leadership
Pastoral Staff
Gary Gilley
Senior Pastor
Dr. Gary E. Gilley has been pastoring at Southern View Chapel since 1975. He is author of six books, and has also contributed to four other books.
Pastor Gilley received his BA from Moody Bible Institute and his MBS and ThD from Cambridge Graduate School. He is a frequent speaker at Bible conferences and writes the monthly study paper, Think on These Things and is the Book Review Editor for the Journal of Dispensational Theology. He is also a board member of the IFCA International, Brazil Gospel Fellowship Mission, Personal Freedom Outreach and New Tribes Missions.
Pastor Gilley and his wife Marsha have two adult sons and six grandchildren.
Brian Gilley
Associate Pastor
Brian has been pastoring at Southern View Chapel since 2003. He serves as Associate Pastor and as such serves the church in a wide range of capacities.
Brian received his BS from Baptist Bible College. He and his wife Priscila have four children.
Michael Wickens
Assistant Pastor
of Biblical Counseling
Mike serves as the Director of the Springfield Center for Biblical Counseling. He joined the SVC staff at the beginning of 2017. After 38 years as a Site Manager at various parks in Illinois, Mike retired from IDNR on December 31st 2016.
Mike received his BS from Southern Illinois University, a certificate in Bible from Moody Bible Institute and has been certified by ACBC as a counselor. He is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Biblical Counseling from Faith Bible Seminary. He has been married for 40 plus years and has three grown daughters, two sons-in-law, and six grandchildren.
Edwin Tevez
Assistant Pastor
of Youth and Media
Edwin serves as the Assistant Pastor of Youth and Media ministries. He joined the staff at SVC in the spring of 2015. He currently serves as President of the Central Illinois Region for IFCA International and is on the board of directors with Adelphos-USA.
Edwin received his BA from The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, CA. Edwin and his wife Carla were married in 2014; they have three children.
Andrew Lafferty
Church Planter
Jacksonville Bible Church
Andrew joined the SVC staff in 2019 to lead the church planting ministry in Jacksonville, a town forty minutes from Springfield. He serves as the pastor of Jacksonville Bible Church, a daughter church plant of SVC, as well as the leader of the Counseling Center extension site.
Andrew received his BS from Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis, his M.Div from Faith Bible Seminary in Lafayette, IN and has been certified by ACBC as a biblical counselor.
Andrew and his wife, Sarah, were married in 2013.
Owen Cornelius
Registrar
Bible Training Institute
Owen began his ministry at Southern View Chapel in November 2021. In addition to his SVC duties, he serves part time as the Registrar and as an adjunct professor at Brookes Bible College in St. Louis.
Owen earned the BS degree at Fort Wayne Bible College in Fort Wayne, IN and the MDiv degree at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, IN.
Owen and Marilyn were married on October 3, 1981. God has blessed them with three adult children and seven grandchildren.