BILL GARNER

My Story

As long as I can remember, our family went to church. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I understood what it meant to follow Christ. I had several good men pour into my life through my High School years. I was very motivated to follow Christ and eager to grow as a young Christian. My Church, my mother and father and several others who were serious about their faith, had a lasting impact on me as a believer. 

Most of my life has been spent here in Memphis, although I was born in Texas and spent my college years at Baylor University. After graduating, I went to Mid-America and received my MDiv in 1986.  I spent two years teaching and coaching at a local high school before I went to work at Central Church as the Student Ministries Director.  After Central, I became one of the founding pastors for Grace Evangelical, where I served as the Executive Pastor.  Recently, I served as the EP at Fellowship Memphis for three years before leaving to join Downline Ministries as the Online Coordinator in 2011.

I married Elizabeth Ligon in 2015. Together we have seven children, six grandchildren and two dogs. Elizabeth is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee at Memphis Medical School. We’ve been through some exciting chapters in our lives and some really messy difficult ones as well. At the end of the day, it’s the book God’s writing with our lives and we trust Him with the finished product.

My Hope For Harvest

My hope for Harvest is to be part of the team that Disciples and Develops young leaders who will become difference makers and reproducers of reproducers in the generations to come.