Faculty & Staff

Dr. Steve Whitacre

President & Professor

Dr. Whitacre hails from Charleston, S.C. and grew up in Northern Virginia. A bi-vocational pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, he is a graduate of the Sovereign Grace Pastors College and Liberty University. He received MDiv and ThM degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a PhD through the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Whitacre has been happily married to Nicole for more than 25 years; they have four adult children and they reside in Pewee Valley.

Dr. Josh Blount

Professor

Mr. Blount currently resides in Franklin, West Virginia and serves on staff at Living Faith Church. Joshua received his Bachelors of Science degree in Wildlife Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute &State University, and then went on to attend the Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastor’s College in 2008-2009. He is also a graduate (M.Div) of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and just completed his PhD studies at Westminster Theological Seminary. Josh and his wife Anna were married in April 2010 and have three children, Elliot, Katelyn, and Lauren.

Mr. Reid Williamson

Professor

Mr. Williamson is originally from Savannah, Georgia. He attended Armstrong State University in Savannah and received a B.A. in Law & Society: Social Theory and Philosophy. He also received his Masters of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and most recently graduated from Sovereign Grace Churches’ Pastors College and is a member at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. Mr. Williamson has recently been accepted into the ThM program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His hobbies include golf, jazz drums, and theology.

Mr. Bruce Chick

Professor

Bruce Chick has belonged to different Sovereign Grace Churches in Florida, Virginia, and now Texas. Bruce served as the senior pastor in Roanoke, Virginia for 23 years, and he additionally served Sovereign Grace Churches extra locally in a variety of capacities including chairing a regional ordination committee, teaching Old Testament at the Sovereign Grace Pastors College, and being an active member of both the Sovereign Grace Polity Committee and Executive Committee since 2013.

Bruce is blessed to have known his lovely wife, Hien, since they were both 16. They are the parents of 7 wonderful children and two sons-in-law. Although it might seem a little strange to love hot weather and look forward to training and competing in just about any available sporting activity while on vacation, it just goes with the territory of being a Chick.

Mr. Mark Coppenger

Professor

Mark Coppenger (BA, Ouachita; PhD, Vanderbilt; MDiv, SWBTS) is Retired Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics at Southern Seminary. He’s taught full-time at Wheaton, MBTS, SBTS, and New Saint Andrews, and part-time at Vanderbilt, Elmhurst, and TIU. He’s pastored for 17 years (whether full-time in a legacy church, as a bi-vocational church planter, or as an interim), and, as a denomination worker, he’s preached in scores of others. He and Sharon have been married for over 50 years. Their two sons are in full-time Christian ministry and their daughter is playing key roles in a home-school coop and in the children’s ministry of a church plant. He has made dozens of overseas mission trips, which have taken him to South America, North Africa/Middle East, Eastern/Western Europe, and Southeast Asia. An ROTC product, he’s retired as an infantry officer after 28 years in the Army Guard and Reserves. His publications, past and present, can be found at markcoppenger.com. 

Mrs. Emily Krohmer

Choir Director

Mrs. Krohmer is a transplant from the west coast, having moved to Kentucky with her
husband, Kurt, and two children in 2024. She was raised in Idaho, where she attended
the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho. She graduated with a
degree in vocal music education and spent several years teaching elementary music.
She and her family then spent a decade living in California, where she was involved in
all aspects of church music. In her free time, Emily enjoys reading, discovering new
musical artists and genres, and snuggling with her dog, Dougal.

Mr. Jack Whitacre

Guest Lecturer

Mr. Jack Whitacre has attended a Sovereign Grace Church for as long as he can remember; first in Fairfax, VA, and then in Louisville, KY since 2012. Mr. Whitacre spent four years in Moscow, Idaho where he received his B.A. in Liberal Arts and Culture from New Saint Andrews College and met the girl who is now the lovely Mrs. Whitacre. Mr. Whitacre is pursuing his Masters in Creative Writing from New Saint Andrews.

Mrs. Nicole Whitacre

Guest Lecturer

Mrs. Whitacre is a wife, mother, homemaker, and high school English teacher. Together with her mother, Carolyn, she is the author of several books, including Girl Talk; True Beauty; Shopping for Time; and True Feelings. Nicole is also publishing her first solo work, True Happiness, early next year. Nicole and her family live in Pewee Valley, Kentucky, where her husband serves as a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville.