Pastor Gary was raised on his family’s dairy farm near West Liberty, Ohio, learning from an early age the value of hard work. As a young man, he was in charge of the family fertilizer business. He figured he would continue on in the family business, but as it turned out, God had some very different plans for him, which were revealed to Gary after he was injured in a farm accident. With the support of his wife and three children, he began attending Cedarville University for seminary at age 28 and graduated four years later.

In 1991, Gary began Harvest Baptist Church in the basement of the Home Savings and Loan building in Wapakoneta, and it continued to grow and move to larger venues, including Wapakoneta Middle School, until the church building was constructed in 2001.

As senior pastor, Gary regularly delivers Sunday messages, goes on visitations and conducts marriages and funerals, among several other duties.

On October 5th of 2025, Gary and  his wife Joy celebrated 50 years of marriage!   They have three children, Shannon, Nicole and Abby, and seven grandchildren.

Gary has a passion for children’s and teen’s ministries, and it’s his hope that Harvest reaches as many as possible by touching families in the local and surrounding communities.

 Pastor Tony grew up in Hamler, Ohio, and graduated from Patrick Henry High School before earning a Bachelor’s in business administration at Cedarville University. He then worked in the nursing home industry for several years, serving as the administrator to Auglaize Acres and then executive director of Otterbein Cridersville.

While working at Auglaize Acres, Tony was introduced to Harvest when he met Pastor Gary, who invited him to attend. After regularly attending Harvest for about nine months, Tony was asked to lead the youth ministry. He then pursued some advanced career opportunities in the nursing home industry, but later came to find that this was not God’s plan for him. In 2000, Tony came on staff at Harvest as a full-time pastor.

Tony’s list of responsibilities at Harvest includes helping people become true disciples of Jesus, Preaching, Counseling,  and taking care of Harvest’s  business affairs.

Tony and his wife Kim have been married for over 30 years and have two adult daughters. Morgan, who is a teacher in Columbus and Alisha, who is married to Cameron and they have three children.

Pastor Scott was born and raised in the Wapakoneta area and graduated from Wapakoneta High School. His roots with Harvest run deep, as he started attending in 1991 after asking Jesus into his heart.

After being away several years pursuing his career in the construction industry, he returned to his hometown and came on to Harvest’s staff as a full-time pastor. He was asked to oversee Harvest’s small groups and Children’s programs.

Currently, Scott’s responsibilities at Harvest include running the children’s programs, including AWANA and children’s services on Sundays, and he is in charge of the church’s sports ministry. He also oversees any construction projects or additions to the church’s campus.
Scott and his wife Kelly have been married for over 28 years. They have two children, Sydney and Cal, and four grandchildren.

Scott has a passion for sports ministry, and he hopes to see Harvest continue to tell children and their families about Jesus in a competitive but fun way.

Landon was born and raised in West Liberty, Ohio, and grew up in a wonderfully Christian and awkwardly Homeschool family. It was at a young age that he felt the call to ministry through the influence of several impactful youth pastors. Because of this, Landon attended Cedarville University and received a degree in pre-seminary Bible. After attending seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., Landon returned to Ohio to teach Jr. High and High School Bible at Xenia Christian High School.

After teaching High School Bible for a few years, Landon’s career took an unexpected turn when he felt the call to the mission field. As a missionary, Landon spent time in Central Asia and Romania (with Chelsea) and overseas missions is still an important part of Landon’s ministry.

Landon and Chelsea have been married since 2020 and have had the opportunity to work and serve together in several countries.
Landon’s role at Harvests includes, overseeing the small groups, leading adult Bible studies, young adult ministries, and occasional preaching. Landon is passionate about teaching the Bible and helping people understand and apply scripture in their everyday life.  

Gabe was born and raised in the Shawnee/Lima area. He graduated from Apollo Career Center with training in Robotics and CNC machining and currently works at Wieland Randall, a machining facility in Shawnee.

Before joining Harvest, Gabe served for many years on the Worship Leadership Team at another church, where he helped build the youth band ministry and became the go-to person for production and technical needs. He also leads worship with several different bands for youth events and summer camps.

Outside of work and church, Gabe enjoys playing music with friends, spending time with family, and hanging out with his girlfriend, Sydney.

At Harvest, Gabe leads the Worship and Tech Team, leads worship on Sunday mornings, and helps build the youth band ministry alongside the other leaders.

Carolyn was born in Paterson, NJ and raised in New Jersey, North Carolina, Germany and finally, Ohio.

Carolyn and her husband, Brad, have been married for over 30 years.  She met Brad, a Wapak native,  while in college.  A few years into their marriage they decided to make Wapak their hometown.  On Father's Day of 2004 they visited Harvest and haven't looked back.

Carolyn and Brad have one child, a son, Tyler, who is a Process & Equipment Engineer at Honda in Anna.

Carolyn joined the Harvest staff in the Fall of  2022, after spending the previous 15 years in the education world.