THE CORE OF OUR BELIEF
THE CORE OF OUR BELIEF
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Philip Caines
Senior Pastor
Sam Brown
Associate Pastor
Philip
Caines
Greetings in the name of the Lord! My name is Philip Caines, and I am the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Tennessee.
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By God's grace, I was born into a Christian home. I do not remember a day when I did not know that Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins and make me a beloved child of God. All my life I have had lived out before me the example of godly parents endeavoring in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit to live as becomes the followers of Christ.
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I was born in 1974 in Sparta, Illinois, where my father, J. Render Caines, was pastor of Bethel Reformed Presbyterian Church. In 1983, I moved with my family to Chattanooga when my dad accepted a call to East Ridge Presbyterian Church. My wife, Sarah, moved with her family to Chattanooga and began attending ERPC that same year. In 1988, both our families joined the daughter congregation of ERPC, Covenant Presbyterian Church on East Brainerd Road.
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Sarah and I both attended Chattanooga Christian School. We graduated in 1992. Sarah went on to study Business at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. I went to Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia to study History and Philosophy. Over Christmas break our junior years we began dating and were engaged the next fall. We were married May 31, 1996, just weeks after we graduated college.
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I served for one year as the interim youth director at CPC while Sarah worked for Provident Insurance Company. We then moved to St. Louis, Missouri so that I could study at Covenant Theological Seminary. In January of 2002, I completed my Masters of Divinity and accepted a call to Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina. I was delighted to be called to CRPC because the call afforded me an excellent opportunity to learn how to become a good shepherd of God's people under the tutelage of Pastor Bob Drake. I served as Associate Pastor of CRPC for six and a half years, during which time I also served for three years as the campus minister for Reformed University Fellowship at UNC Asheville.
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Sarah and I had our first child, Abigail Mae, November 30, 2000. A son, Thomas Lennon, was born July 2, 2002. Another son, Jacob Render, was born August 15, 2005. Our second daughter and fourth child, Hannah Marie, was born March 27, 2007.
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In August 2008 I accepted a call to become the pastor of Trinity. It is my prayer that God will use me to equip the members of Trinity for the important work of making mature disciples of Jesus Christ in Cleveland and around the world. I would love for you to visit us soon to find out more about who we are and what we're doing.
Sam
Brown
Prior to arriving at Trinity in March of 2018, Sam served as a solo pastor in North Carolina for six years. He received his MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary in 2011. He loves being married to Jenny (the world's most patient woman for twelve years running) and wrestling their three sons, Silas (12), Calvin (10) and Josiah (7).
Sam's work at Trinity revolves around relationships, so don't hesitate to invite him to talk over a cup of coffee. He'll buy the first one!