Staff Team

We Can’t Wait to meet you

Doug Halcomb

Doug Halcomb

SENIOR PASTOR

Meet Doug

When Doug was finishing college at Texas Tech University, he got to be part of the core group that founded Live Oak Community Church in 1993. He served on staff in various positions for 9 years and then became a hockey missionary with Hockey Ministries International. In 2012, when Live Oak’s founding Senior Pastor felt a call to “pass the baton” to a new senior leader, Doug was ready for the challenge!  Over the years Doug has had the honor of serving as a Chaplain for Texas Tech Basketball, the Dallas Stars, a several other teams.

HOMELIFE:
Doug and his wife Jennifer have two kids, Jean and Graycia, in high school and middle school respectively.  They have a house full of pets as well!  Doug volunteers at Live Oak by co-leading a college guys small group because he cares deeply about the next generation.  Doug also volunteers outside of Live Oak as part of the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign by serving as a bell ringer every year and also serves on the advisory team for the Global Leadership Network and helps facilitate the Global Leadership Summit simulcast in Lubbock each year.

DOUG LOVES:
Movies
Hockey. All things hockey, including an intense Fantasy Hockey league.
Watching Texas Tech sports
Cigars
Travel
Doug can also get captivated by the latest conspiracy theory…just ask him who shot JFK
Books!
Doug is a constant reader and learner

WHY HE LOVES BEING SENIOR PASTOR:
Doug enjoys being part of a great team that cares deeply for people and works hard to connect people to God, God’s Word, God’s people and God’s mission.

 

 

MARK PORTER

MARK PORTER

EXECUTIVE PASTOR

Meet Mark

Mark is a gradaute of Texas Tech, where he got both a bachelors and masters in Chemistry. He worked as an instructor in the Chemistry department at Texas Tech and then in sales for a pharmecuetucal company for 10 years. All the while Mark was serving in various ministry roles at Live Oak as a volunteer. Eventually an postion became available at Live Oak that was tailor made for Mark.  He was asked to apply and the rest is history.

MARK’S HOME LIFE:
Mark is raising 2 college-aged sons with Mindy (also on staff). He loves connecting with his boys as they both still live in Lubbock while they go to Texas Tech.  Mark is currently pursuing a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy thorugh an online program at ACU.

HE LOVES:
Running
Hiking
Grilling and smoking meats
He is slightly obsessed with WWII history and reads it about it constantly
Being with his family &  friends
Texas Tech athletics (he is a very “passionate” fan)

WHY HE LOVES BEING A PASTOR:
Mark loves seeing folks take steps of faith in their journey of transformation with Jesus. He loves working with a team committed to the mission of more and stronger followers

TAMMY ROBERTS

TAMMY ROBERTS

PASTOR OF NEXT GEN MINISTRIES

Meet Tammy

Tammy has been involved with students since graduating college with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies. In looking back she can clearly see God was paving a way all along!  She was an at-risk advocacy coordinator in public schools for 15 years and involved with student ministry in some capacity for 18 years!  She loves serving the Next Generation and Live Oak was the perfect spot to land! 

HOMELIFE:
Tammy  is the mom the three amazing daughters Alee, Shelby, and Paisley. Home life is wild and crazy fun!  They are blessed with an amazing community (Shallowater) that allows  them be involved in everything from sports to fine arts!  When it slows down…they slow way down! Phones go away, movies are watched, meals are cooked, puzzles are put together, new skills are developed, and they rest.  They love to live in the fellowship of our family and friends that feel like family!

TAMMY LOVES:
Dancing!  AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE DANCING!

She loves outside!  Anything near water and sunshine is her family’s JAM!!!

They love learning new things: cooking in the air fryer, up-cycling, art, anything off their phones!

She loves her friends. Friendships have brought life and lifelines to thier family!  Without the friendships that have turned into family their lives would look very different!

WHY SHE LOVES SERVING AS NEXT GEN PASTOR:
Tammy says she love, love, loves serving students and over the past few years she has found that she loves investing in the leaders of those students!  She has been blessed with the most AMAZING group of small group leaders and volunteers.  They do life together, they grow together, and most importantly they get to grow more and stronger followers of Christ together!

MINDY PORTER

MINDY PORTER

PASTOR OF CREATIVE ARTS

Meet Mindy

Mindy has been at Live Oak since 1997 when she was a young adult looking for a new church home post-college.  Along the way, as a volunteer in multiple capacities, she has led small groups, served as a worship leader and help start MOPS. In 2009 she came on staff part-time while still working as RN part time, and in 2012 part-time turned into full time. She is in the unique position of working with her husband (Mark, our Executive Pastor) which they navigate fairly well most days :).

MINDY’S HOME LIFE:
Mark and Mindy have 2 college-aged sons and are learning that empty nest life. They do life with friends who feel like family. They love rest and low-key living when it’s possible.  Mark and Mindy are currently leading a small group at Live Oak for young adults and are loving it!

MINDY LOVES:
Creating Spotify playlists
Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts
Kombucha
Trying to master doing her own gel nail manicures
Voraciously reading on her Kindle (200 books and counting)
Her temperamental and majestic rescue dog, Churchill
When all 4 Porters are hunkered down on the couch laughing and talking
Creating the coziest home possible

WHAT SHE LOVES ABOUT BEING A CREATIVE ARTS PASTOR:
She loves overseeing all the ways Live Oak gets to tell God’s good story…whether it be through beautiful music, web design or something as mundane as an all-church email. It ALL matters and can bring God glory.  In recent years her role has shifted more and more to building into other leaders, both staff and volunteers, and she adores this part of her job!

 

CLAY THOMAS

CLAY THOMAS

WORSHIP PASTOR

Meet Clay

Clay grew up in Plano, Texas. He joined the Live Oak staff in 2016 (his love of all things Texas Tech was a huge bonus in his interview process).  He is a graduate of Texas Tech and Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM). He has been leading worship for different ministries and churches for over 18 years; something he began doing as a teenager. In addition to leading Worship Arts, Clay is also leading Live Oak’s Missions efforts.

CLAY’S HOME LIFE:
Clay is married to his wife of 12 years, Mallory.  Mallory is a vocalist on our Worship Team and teaches kindergarten at Miller. They have 4 kids, Griffin, Ford, Nora and Elliot, and needless to say, their days are full with kid’s activities and sports.

CLAY LOVES:
Golf
Hunting
The World Series Champions Texas Rangers
The Dallas Cowboys

(his staff teammates would add: being fun & goofy)

WHAT CLAY LOVES ABOUT BEING A WORSHIP PASTOR:
He loves magnifying the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by means of skillfully combining God’s Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God’s presence, and to live for God’s glory.

 

 

AUSTIN HERING

AUSTIN HERING

ASSOCIATE WORSHIP DIRECTOR/DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MINISTRY PROGRAMMING

Meet Austin

Austin came to Lubbock in the fall of 2015 to start school at Texas Tech University with a major in communications and a minor in music. He was invited to Live Oak during his first semester and by January of 2016, he started interning for the worship arts ministry. After graduating in the fall of 2018, he accepted a year-long residency continuing with worship arts and also adding in student ministry responsibilities. At the start of 2020 he became a full time staff member and absolutely loves it!

HOMELIFE:
Austin loves playing music and building and collecting LEGO, a passion that began as a kid and has been rekindled in adulthood!  He is very close with his family who live in the Dallas area.

AUSTIN LOVES:
Family
Music
LEGO
Dogs
The Mountains
Taco Bell

WHE HE LOVES HIS MINISTRY ROLE:
His role combines his two passions in ministry: worship arts and students. He loves getting to lead worship for both adult and student congregations through song!

KRISTY BARNETT

KRISTY BARNETT

DIRECTOR OF K-5TH MINISTRIES

Meet Kristy

Kristy started serving in Kids Ministry at Live Oak when she was in high school and never looked back!  She got Music Education and Theater degrees from Texas Tech and Oklahoma City University, which led to her being an Elementary Music teacher for a time. She was also a Stay at Home Mom for a time (which she says was the BEST job title she ever had).  Now she works full time in Kids Ministry where she gets to combine her love for all things kids, music, and theater.

HOMELIFE:
Consists of her husband Mike, and listening to him play guitar

Her middle schooler, Sam, who still loves to snuggle and who talks to her about all things videos games and sports.

Her high schooler, Abby, and listening to her play violin and taking trips to coffee shops because she now loves coffee as much as her momma does.

KRISTY LOVES:
Watching kids learn something new
The sound of kids singing and worshipping God together
The sound of laughter
Rainy days
Beating her family in board games
Working puzzles
Yoga (duh) 🙂
The 2 C’s – Coffee and Chocolate 🙂
Shopping with her mom who makes ALL decisions about her home decor because “she has no taste.”
Hanging out with family and friends
Her Small Group
The mountains
Embarrassing my kids by dancing in the car and dancing down the aisles while grocery shopping (for some reason, they don’t want to go to the grocery store with her anymore) 🙂

WHY SHE LOVES HER MINISTRY ROLE:
She loves seeing people make the decision to serve, not really knowing how they feel about it a first, but then later discovering that there’s nothing else they’d rather be doing and also discovering that serving grows their faith! She loves seeing people use their God-given gifts and talents to serve others in the church and in the community and also seeing people discover gifts, talents, and skills they didn’t know they had!  She loves seeing kids get to be in a Small Group of their own where dedicated leaders make them feel known, loved, valued, and cared for!  She loves seeing Small Group Leaders get plugged into serving and the sparkle in their eyes when they realize that yes, they are the ones leading and discipling kids, but they are learning just as much, if not more, than the kids are!  She loves seeing the smiles on kids’ faces when they discover and rediscover truths from God’s Word in FUN and exciting ways. The Bible doesn’t have to be boring! 🙂

 

 

Christy Leezer

Christy Leezer

COORDINATOR OF BABIES-PREK MINISTRIES

Meet Christy

Christy came Live Oak in 1998 as a single mom with 3 kids. She says she was loved on immediately and her kids were too and they just loved coming on Sundays. Her kids eventually got involved in LOSM (our student ministry) and she decided to start serving in LOSM too. And goodness, she learned so much and got so much in return! Christy was a mentor mom for MOPs and enjoyed going to Sisters and Seekers as well. Later she decided she wanted to serve in Acorn Club (our preschool ministry) as her kids were grown and she had grandkids attending. After a couple of years, the position for Acorn Club Coordinator became available. She was asked and answered, YES!

HOMELIFE:
She is a married mom of three grown kids and fantastic grands who she loves to spend time with. She also loves her two dogs. You can find her outside walking those dogs almost everyday.

CHRISTY LOVES:
Walking the dogs
Hitting the gym and hiking
Watching mystery type shows to see if she can figure it out before her husband, Tom
She despises house cleaning but will mow the yard, no complaints.
Her grands…they opened a valve in her heart that she had no idea was there!
Traveling to Maine to spedn time with her large family there.

WHY SHE LOVES HER ROLE:
Families matter! No matter size, type, how new or possibly different they may seem, family is deeply important to God, community and to Christy. She loves getting the privilege of being a small part of letting families know they are loved and known. Best job ever! She gets to love God and love people!

 

MADISON ROMIG

MADISON ROMIG

COLLEGE & YOUNG ADULTS MINISTRY COORDINATOR

Meet Madison

Madison came to Lubbock to attend school at Texas Tech University, and found Live Oak (or as she says, it found her) during her college years. She served as a college intern at Live Oak for two years, and upon graduating college in 2017, came on our Staff Team full-time to lead the college ministry and continue in her communication role.

HOMELIFE:
In her time living in Lubbock, somewhere along the way, both of her younger sisters ventured to the LBK too. Time with those two is a priority. Madison is also often drumming up fun things to do with her friends and small group. Others call her the ultimate includer.

MADISON LOVES:
Tried and true recipes
Giving a good gift
Mindless drives around Lubbock
Bold colors
Earrings that make a statement

WHY SHE LOVES COLLEGE MINISTRY:
SO MANY REASONS! The best parts of college ministry: believing in the next generation, watching them believe in themselves, seeing them support and show up for each other, and the leaders who believe in the special-ness of this age group with her. Oh, and they’re so much fun!

 

 

 

JANA PRINDLE

JANA PRINDLE

SMALL GROUP CHILDCARE COORDINATOR

Meet Jana

Live Oak has been Jana’s church home since 1996 and she has loved serving as a volunteer in many different roles. When the opportunity came about to join the staff team to take on the role of Small Group Childcare Coordinator, she was incredibly honored that people saw in her the qualities and gifts that God would use her for in this role.

HOMELIFE:
 She is married to Floyd, her husband of 23 years and counting! Their son Casen is in middle school their and daughter Brityn is in elementary school. They also have an AussieDoodle named Mack and a mini Golden Doodle names Hank!  When Jana is not working at Live Oak she works part time at a local car dealership.

JANA LOVES:
Being a wife and mom
Shopping
Spending quality time with family and friends.

 WHAT SHE LOVES ABOUT HER ROLE:  It allows families to know their children are being loved well in a safe and fun environment while the parents and caregivers are able to connect with others in small group. Another important aspect for Jana is the ability to get to do life with the childcare workers who don’t necessarily have a church home here in Lubbock, as most are college students. The relationships created, often serve as their second family. It’s such a privilege to be a part of this time in their life.

 

 

Aaron Winger

Aaron Winger

TECH DIRECTOR

Meet Aaron

Aaron was born and raised in Lubbock. He was saved when he was 11 but didn’t really pursue a relationship with Christ until his sophomore year of college. Around that same time, he started to get involved in the media department of his church and fell in love with it. He went to South Plains College to get an associates in audio engineering and has been focusing on using his gifts to serve the kingdom ever since. While attending South Plains College, he worked at Indiana Avenue Baptist Church as a Media Intern and then eventually Media Director before moving to Midland to serve in a similar role there.

HOMELIFE:
He is definitely a homebody. He loves getting to spend time at home with his beautiful wife, Jessica. A typical weekend for them is full of cooking, TV shows, and lots of board games. They also love having friends over and making their home a regular game night destination.

AARON LOVES:
– creating immersive worlds through writing. Whether it’s just describing the vibrant scenery of a landscape or world building a complex political structure for a fantasy city, he loves getting to take people on a journey with words
– to go with the previous point, he loves D&D and DMing. I enjoy getting to create a world that others can enjoy get sucked into.
– board games/table top games
– music, all kinds and genres

WHY HE LOVES BEING A TD:
He enjoys getting to use his craft to help others worship. Getting to prepare during the week to make a Sunday morning service as immersive and intimate as possible is his favorite part of the job. He also loves getting to use his gifts to help his fellow staff teammates do their jobs better. Most of all, he loves this community that he gets to be a part of.

ALI MCANALLY

ALI MCANALLY

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Meet Ali

Ali has always worked in childcare, since high school and on, and only had a couple other jobs during that season in retail. Her last role before coming on at Live Oak was as a nanny for a family with triplets! It was fun and she learned a lot, but it was also becoming more difficult to do as her own family was growing and she had a baby girl on the way. After she left the nanny job she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, and God placed just the right people in her life at the right time and an opportunity opened up at Live Oak that was perfect for her and her season of life! She is thankful every day for God’s plan for her life in placing her at Live Oak. In additoon to serving as Executive Assistant (AKA the staff Swiss Army Knife) Ali leads our First Impressions Volunteers to do what they do on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays)

HOMELIFE:
When Ali is not at work,  she can be found hanging out with her kiddos Tenny and Rogue and hhusband Britt. They try to spend time as a family at home, watching Texas Tech play, and doing random projects around the house! They also like to have game nights with friends and love trying out new restaurants!

ALI LOVES:
She enjoys chick-fil-a and going to the movie theater!

Driving around in the car by herself blasting good music is her go-to when she needs a break, and hanging out with her besties fills her bucket!

WHY SHE LOVES WHAT SHE DOES AT LIVE OAK:
She loves her job so much and the people she gets to work alongside and all the people she gets to serve are incredible! She never really thought of herself as a people person until she really started living out “Love God Love People” and now its one of her favorite things about her job. She loves all the pieces falling in to place and for things to be organized so everyone can work efficiently.

 

 

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