STAFF BIOS

Marshall Benbow
Teaching Pastor
(336) 455-9332
Marshall’s faith journey began at the age of 7, when he came to know Jesus at a Christian summer camp. He later re-committed himself to the Lord through the ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship during his freshman year of college at UNC-Chapel Hill. After graduating in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, he began working as a campus minister at UNC-Greensboro and Guilford College through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship until 2006. From 2004-2011, Marshall developed and coordinated G.U.P.Y (the Greensboro Urban Project, Y’all), an InterVarsity Urban Project which brought college students to the Glenwood neighborhood for spring break and summer mission trips. In 2008, Marshall joined the pastoral staff at Grace as the Director of Outreach, then served as the Discipleship Pastor until 2019. He received his Master of Arts in Religion from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte in 2017. In January 2020, Marshall became the Teaching Pastor at Grace. Marshall and his wife Diane have 3 children. Marshall loves reading, hiking, listening to music, baseball, and all things UNC Tar Heels.

John Jackson
Worship Pastor
(336) 455-9287
John Jackson, a native of Chicago, moved to Knoxville in 1986 to attend Knoxville College where he received his BA in Education. Before coming to Greensboro, John was the Minister of Music at Community Evangelistic Church, Music Director at Freedom Fellowship Christian Church and Hope Fellowship in Tennessee. John also served in the mission of Young Life by leading summer and weekend camps, leadership, and staff gatherings throughout our nation. John served as Worship Pastor at our Grace Men’s Weekend for many years, and made the decision to move his family to Greensboro & join our pastoral team in 2021. John is currently the Worship Arts Pastor at Grace Community Church. We are incredibly blessed to have his family with us.
John’s love for music and bringing people together is felt when he leads. His joy is infectious and his musical abilities can speak to the whole room. John values excellence in his music ministry. He values people. He loves a diverse repertoire of music and instruments. John has received several awards for community service in the Knoxville area by sharing his musical talent with local organizations and creating youth and young adult choirs and musical groups.
John is married to April Jackson who currently serves as the Young Lives Divisional Coordinator for the Southeastern Division. They have two young adult children Jalan and Jahson.

Lee Simmons
Staff Deacon of GraceKids and Missional Communities
(336) 455-9321
Lee began her journey to Christ when she was 16 at youth camp. During her college years at UNC-Asheville, she was fully won into faith at age 20 when she understood God’s deep love for her. After graduating with a B.A. in Psychology, Lee worked for 12 years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She began her time as a campus minister at Lenoir Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, later transitioning into an area position where she supported 12 staff on different campuses and assisted the director of the Western Carolinas area. In 2012, Lee joined Grace as the Staff Deacon of Children’s Ministry. Lee has a passion for contextualizing the gospel for kids and explaining the deep love of God the Father and the work of the cross to the next generation. She also loves teaching kids and grown-ups what it looks like to live out a life in Christ. Lee and her husband Joshua have 4 children.

Jake Sorber
Youth Pastor
(336) 792-4839
Jake began his personal relationship with Jesus when he was 5 years old after hearing the gospel in a Sunday School class at church. When he was in High School Jake began to feel that God was calling him into youth ministry. While studying Bible and Youth Ministry at Davis College he met his wife Liz and they were married in 1998. Jake went on to receive a Master’s degree in education with a focus on training of trainers from Elmira College. Jake served as the Youth Pastor at CrossPoint Community Church in Binghamton, NY and The Gathering Place in Syracuse, NY for over 20 years. Most recently Jake has served as the Program Director at Bethany Camp in Sinclairville, NY. Jake and Liz have two kids, Owen and Madilyn. Jake loves to golf, ski, hunt, ride motorcycles, play music and watch the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Syracuse Orange.

Jennifer Holloway
Director of Ministry Alignment and Mobilization
(336)455-9334
Jennifer was raised in Raleigh, NC. She accepted Christ during an altar call at the age of 7 and was baptized soon after. After graduating from UNCG with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, she worked at IBM Human Resources and moved on to Enterprise Rent-A-Car on the management track. Delighting in the birth of her first child, Jennifer pursued her dream of being a stay-at-home/homeschool mom for many years. Jennifer joined the Grace staff in 2015 as an administrative assistant to various ministries and joined the pastoral staff in 2019 as the Staff Deacon of Women’s Ministries. Jennifer has since earned a certificate in non-profit management from Duke University and currently manages our support staff, ministry teams and communications.
Jennifer’s husband Brian has served as elder chair on the GCC elder board. They have 4 sons. Jennifer enjoys beautiful things…reading, fashion, home décor, plants and spending time with her family.

Shelly Brazinski
Business Administrator
(336) 455-9655
Shelly was born in San Antonio, TX and lived there until she was 9 years old. At that point her family moved to Connecticut, and she lived there until she and her husband moved to NC in 1992. Shelly came to know Christ at a young age. She served in various ministries in her church over many years. She went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in education from UNCG. Shelly taught elementary school for 6 years before joining the staff team at Grace in 1992. She has been the Business Administrator at Grace for over 30 years. Shelly homeschooled her 3 boys through their high school years. She and her husband, Michael, are now empty nesters and enjoy visiting their 3 sons and 2 daughters-in-law. When Shelly is not working, she spends time with her husband and friends.

Lisa Kody
Operations and Missions Support
(336) 455-9322
Lisa grew up in Guilford County and accepted Christ at the age of 9. She graduated from UNCG with a B.A. in Speech Pathology. In 2002, she began working at Grace as the youth ministry assistant, and since then has served in multiple ministries. She currently assists the Director of Operations and Finance, where her duties include database management, registration, policies & procedures and missions support. Lisa and her husband Jack have 4 adult children and 7 energetic grandchildren. Lisa enjoys going to see Broadway musicals, Tarheel basketball, taking regular trips to the beach and spending time with her family.

Niki Jones-Hart
Facilities Manager and Support Staff
(336) 455-9327
Nikita received Christ at an early age but didn’t really understand salvation or develop a personal relationship with Christ until she was 16. She graduated magna cum laude from Purdue University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Niki began her career in the banking field, later going on to work in the commercial printing business. She joined the staff at Grace in 2011 and serves as the Facilities Manager, as well as on the Support Staff. Niki also serves as the Pastor of Ministries and as the Publication Relations Director at Greater Christian Fellowship Church. Niki and her husband Levester have 4 children and 2 grandchildren.

David Kody
Facilites
(336) 455-9354
Born and raised in Greensboro, David came to Grace for the first time when he was 11. He later served as a missionary in Latin America. For 15 years, he focused his efforts on helping the poor and marginalized in vulnerable areas of countries such as the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Now, he utilizes his expertise in landscaping to maintain and beautify our property. His hobbies include rom-coms and long walks on the beach. When prompted to describe a perfect date, he declared it to be April 25th due to the fact that it's "not too hot or too cold" and because "all you need is a light jacket."