Leadership

Richard Rieves

Richard is the Lead Pastor of Downtown Church.  Richard is married to Rachel and they have three daughters, Whitney Hale, Ashley Powell and Amy Katherine Power. They moved to Memphis from Fort Collins, CO where Richard planted Grace Church PCA. Prior to this, the Rieves spent ten years in Olive Branch, MS planting and pastoring Christ PCA. The Rieves moved back to Memphis to start a new church in downtown Memphis that proclaims the gospel and witnesses its power to reconcile Memphians to Jesus and each other. Richard is a 1983 graduate of CBHS and a 1986 graduate of the University of Memphis. He has his Master of Divinity Degree from Reformed Theological Seminary.

Richard enjoys running, fishing, skiing (on snow or water), grilling and smoking ribs, turkey or just meat in general, college basketball, the beach and lake, duck hunting, good music, mountains, and rivers.

Michael Davis

Michael Davis serves as the Teaching Pastor at Downtown Church. He is married to Serena and they have one son, Michael “MJ” Davis Jr. In 2013, Michael and his family moved from St. Louis, MO to Memphis, TN to serve as the pastoral intern for Second Presbyterian Church and Downtown Church. It was then that Michael's desire to know and understand multi-ethnic, multi-class, and multi-generational ministry began to grow. In 2014, Michael accepted a call as an Assistant Pastor to Young Adults at Second Presbyterian Church. In 2017, Michael received a call to serve as the Teaching Pastor at Downtown Church. He is passionate about expositional preaching, shepherding and equipping the people of God. He is a pastor that is urgent about gospel ministry that transforms the hearts and lives of individuals that need to be reconciled to God and one another. 

Michael holds an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. He also received a B.S. from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Michael has been deeply involved in several ministries in the city of Memphis. He spends much of his time serving as the board chairman of Advance Memphis.Michael enjoys sports, photography, BBQ, jazz music, and spending time with his family.

Hilary Denny

Hilary is from a little bit of everywhere, growing up in both Canada and Texas.  Before moving to Memphis, Hilary most recently lived in Senegal, Africa, working as a missionary with her husband, Wayne.  In 2016, they relocated to Memphis for Hilary to pursue her Masters in Urban Education, after which she taught elementary school in Shelby County Schools for 5 years.  She is currently pursuing her MDiv at Memphis City Seminary.

Hilary came on at Downtown Church as the Director of Elementary Ministries in 2022, with a desire to teach and disciple both children and their parents to love God and love their neighbor in this ever changing culture.  Her desire is for the children of Downtown Church to know God’s truth and to be able to live it out in love to the world around them. 

Hilary and Wayne have 2 kids – Adelaide, 16 and Marc, 11.  They love spending time as a family playing games, traveling, and laughing together at a good dad joke. 

Sirgregory Thornton

Sirgregory is a proud native of the city of Memphis where he was born and raised by two godly parents. Though being raised in the church and being the son and grandson of a pastor, Sirgregory did not understand what it truly meant to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ. It wasn’t until one of his college teammates invited him to a bible study did he first begin to realize his life wasn’t lining up with the word of God. During the second semester of his freshman year at Arkansas State University, Sirgregory accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

After graduation Sirgregory accepted a position with Campus Outreach where he evangelized, preached, and did ministry on the college campus at Arkansas State and the University of Memphis. During these years, Sirgregory’s vision and passion for the city grew and he felt a call towards pastoral ministry. Sirgregory has recently received his Master of Divinity degree from Mid America Baptist Seminary.Sirgregory and his wife Jade are the proud parents of Charis and Sir Gregory Anthony.

Artez Henderson

Artez is from St. Louis, MO, and he graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 2011 with a B.S. in Hospitality Management. He previously worked on staff with a college ministry for 6 years and served as the Campus Director for the University of Memphis. He has earned his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando and is now an assistant Pastor at Downtown Church. He and his wife, Ebeny, have been married for almost 8 years and have 3 children, Artez “Aj” Jr. (6), Grace (4) and Timothy (1).

Adrianna Steele

Adrianna Steele is a vocalist raised in Gary, IN. She obtained her Masters in Arts Administration from the prestigious School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. After falling in love with the students of Stax Music Academy during an internship, Adrianna returned to Memphis 2012 and has worked as the Program Manager, Operations Manager, and most recently Director of the Academy.  In July 2018, Adrianna answered the call to become the full-time Music Director at Downtown Church.  She looks forward to worshiping God in Spirit and truth each Sunday with her DC family as she continues to grow in ministry.

Jessie Harvey

Jessie was born and raised in Memphis. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in history and went on to earn a master’s degree in history at Virginia Commonwealth University, writing a thesis on the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins of Chattanooga, Tennessee. After grad school, Jessie joined the staff at West End Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia, assisting with communications and the neighborhood outreach program. A former cross country runner, Jessie helped lead Track Club, a twice-weekly event for refugee children where they learned the basics of running, relays, endurance, and the Gospel. Jessie and her husband, Phil, live in the Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood with their three children: Ellen, Dietrich, and David.

Kelsie Ellison

Kelsie would consider herself a Memphis transplant, having been in Memphis since 2011. She moved here to attend the University of Memphis where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism and met her now husband, Kevin. Kelsie and Kevin and have two sons, Kevin III and Karter. Kelsie ministered to college students at the University of Memphis for five years with Campus Outreach college ministry and served as a Women’s Coordinator. She also served on the women’s Bible study teaching team at Second Presbyterian Church for three years. 

Kelsie is pursuing her Master’s of Biblical Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary. She enjoys growing in her knowledge of God through his Word, and making Him known through evangelizing and discipling women. Kelsie enjoys trying different restaurants in Memphis and visiting the numerous hidden gems around the city.

Cedirc Calhoun

Jed Hale

Rob Ward

Chester Gilchrist

Chris Oliver

Josh Shelley

Nicholas Barnhart

Orcutt C. White

New Elder Coming Soon!

Mike Shaw

Corey DeWaters

Daniel Aaron Harris

Ronald Proctor

LeGerald “LJ” Collier

Rendon “Hugo” Bradley

Sharda Collier