First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock's Staff Members
Welcome to First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock! I am glad you have chosen to look deeper into who we are and what we feel called to be. I believe you will find the people who make up this church to be a beautifully God-centered people who are passionate in our faith, authentic in our struggles, and desperate to become who the bible says we are.
Rev. Rusty Guenther, Lead Pastor
Rusty Guenther, our Lead Pastor came to First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock in July of 2007. He was raised in Baytown, Texas and graduated from Ross S. Sterling High School in 1984. He graduated from the East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas as a Communication/Religion major in 1989. He received his MDIV from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in 1998. Prior to coming to First Baptist he had served as a Student Pastor and Youth Ministry for the last 20 years in churches including; Central Baptist Church/Abba's House of Hixson /Chattanooga, Tennessee, First Baptist Church of College Station, Texas , Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland, Texas and Springs of Grace Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana as Student and Recreation Minister.
He is married to the former Kim Carter whom he met at East Texas Baptist where she received a degree in Business Administration. Married since 1989 they have two adult children; Caleb who is a a high school history teacher at Klein Cane High School in Houston Texas and Cassidy who works as a dental assistant in Boone and is married to Jordan Foster. Cassidy and Jordan are expecting their first child in June 2024.
When not working, Rusty is an avid fly fisherman and loves hiking, camping and anything in the outdoors.
Associate Pastor
We are currently taking resumes to fill the position of Associate Pastor
Minister to Students
Currently we have an interim Student Pastor, Chad Martin.
Sid Greene, Minister of Worship
A native of Boone, NC. Music was part of Sid's life from a young age. Both singing and piano were daily creative outlets that he loved and still loves today. After graduation from Watauga high, he enrolled in Appalachian State University where he graduated with a Bachelors degree in Music Industry. While attending Appalachian he met the love of his life from Blowing Rock, Lauren. It would not take long for him to discover she was out of his league but he pursued her until she finally relented. Sid and Lauren are helping to grow the church the old fashion way as the parents of five beautiful children; Kati Mac, Madi, Jake, Camryn and Emsley. When he is not leading worship he owns and operates Hardin Creek Timber Frame & Millwork and is a licensed contractor in North Carolina.
Sid leads worship in our worship service as well as directing our worship teams, the worship choir and leading the worship band. He has been at First Baptist since July of 2010.
Karen Pommier, Children's Minister
Karen joined our staff as the Children's Minister in September 2019. Karen was born in Mexico City and came to the United States to complete her BA in Violin Performance and Communication at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill. There she met her husband, Esteban who is from Bolivia. They have three sons; Gabriel, Adrian, and David. Esteban works for Operation Christmas Child at Samaritan's Purse.
Karen has worked with children for more than 30 years, starting in her home church in Mexico as a teenager through working with inner city kids in Chicago. Working with children is her calling and passion and we are glad to have her at First Baptist.
Mark Williams, Office Administrator
Mark is serves as our Office administrator and jack of all trades. He joined our staff in January of 2020. Mark grew up in Morganton, NC. He attended UNCA for Chemistry and lived in Asheville before moving to the High Country.
Mark is married to Samantha who is the Department Administrator for Appalachian State University Department of Computer Information Systems. When not working Mark loves to cheer on the Boston Red Sox, visit the outer banks, read and is an avid cook.
Kayla Potter; Director of our Children's Development Center, Lead Teacher
Kayla, an Appalachian State graduate has been teaching in our Child Development Teacher as an afternoon teacher for the last 10 years and joined the staff as a full time teacher in September 2012. She became our director in 2018. Kayla teachers our four and five year old classes.
Charlotte Black; Child Development Center, Lead Teacher
Charlotte, an Appalachian State graduate has been teaching in our Child Development Teacher as a Lead Teacher for our 2-3 year olds since 2018.