{"id":45,"date":"2025-01-29T02:05:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T02:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/about\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T01:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:22:21","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/?page_id=45","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Meet our Team<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Our Pastors - Eric and Heather Umsted<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Eric and Heather Umsted are the pastors of Circle of Faith Ministries (COFM) and have been serving together in various ministries since marrying in 1994. They were part of the founding of COFM in 2000 and has served as pastors since 2007.<\/span><\/p>

Eric and Heather have been blessed with 14 children. Home educators since 2005, they answered the call to become foster parents in 2013. They are passionate about encouraging families to put God at the center of their homes, maintaining that strong faith creates strong families.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Our Associate Pastors - Brandon and Dawn Hart<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Brandon is the Associate Pastor of Circle of Faith Ministries. He has been involved in various roles of ministry since 2007. He and his wife, Dawn, have been married since 2014 and are blessed with five children.<\/p>

Dawn serves as the Nursery Director and also assists with social media content. Together, Brandon and Dawn are passionate about spreading the Gospel and building stong, Christ-centered families.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Our Elders - Butch and Shelia Hart\n<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Roy (Butch) and Shelia Hart are two of our Elders who have been serving the Lord together for 37 years. 23 of those years, they have been licensed ministers.<\/span><\/p>

Butch and Shelia are part of the church founders. Butch helps assist in the Men’s Ministry. Shelia is the Church Camp Director. <\/span>They have three children, all married and serving the Lord. They have been blessed with 24 grandchildren and one great grandchild.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Our Elders - Buck and Brenda Speakman\n<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Donald (Uncle Buck) and Brenda Speakman are two of our Elders who have been serving the Lord together for more than 20 years. <\/span>Buck and Brenda are part of the church founders. Uncle Buck and Brenda lead in the Homeless Ministry. Brenda is the Church Secretary and also a Sunday School Teacher. Buck\u00a0also serves as the Church groundskeeper.\u00a0<\/span>They have been married for 39 years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Our Vision and Mission<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Several years ago, the Lord gave Pastor Eric a vision and mission for Circle of Faith Ministries: Strong Faith\/Strong Family. For us, this is not just a catchy phrase. This is the foundation of everything that we do as we strive to use our faith in God\u2019s word to build strong families who impact the world for the kingdom.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Statement of Faith<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible. We accept those areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. We desire to allow for freedom of conviction on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation is based upon the Bible alone, and that no such interpretation shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

  • There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Jesus lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator. That historic fall brought all mankind under divine condemnation.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Man’s nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God by his own works. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • The salvation of man is wholly a work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to thosewho put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Believers receive spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit and are encouraged to share those gifts for the edification of other believers and the church.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • At physical death the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Jesus Christ will come again to the earth — personally, visibly and bodily — to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Meet our Team Our Pastors – Eric and Heather Umsted Eric and Heather Umsted are the pastors of Circle of Faith Ministries (COFM) and have been serving together in various ministries since marrying in 1994. They were part of the founding of COFM in 2000 and has served as pastors since 2007. Eric and Heather have been blessed with 14 children. Home educators since 2005, they answered the call to become foster parents in 2013. They are passionate about encouraging families to put God at the center of their homes, maintaining that strong faith creates strong families. Our Associate Pastors – Brandon and Dawn Hart Brandon is the Associate Pastor of Circle of Faith Ministries. He has been involved in various roles of ministry since 2007. He and his wife, Dawn, have been married since 2014 and are blessed with five children. Dawn serves as the Nursery Director and also assists with social media content. Together, Brandon and Dawn are passionate about spreading the Gospel and building stong, Christ-centered families. Our Elders – Butch and Shelia Hart Roy (Butch) and Shelia Hart are two of our Elders who have been serving the Lord together for 37 years. 23 of those years, they have been licensed ministers. Butch and Shelia are part of the church founders. Butch helps assist in the Men’s Ministry. Shelia is the Church Camp Director. They have three children, all married and serving the Lord. They have been blessed with 24 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Our Elders – Buck and Brenda Speakman Donald (Uncle Buck) and Brenda Speakman are two of our Elders who have been serving the Lord together for more than 20 years. Buck and Brenda are part of the church founders. Uncle Buck and Brenda lead in the Homeless Ministry. Brenda is the Church Secretary and also a Sunday School Teacher. Buck\u00a0also serves as the Church groundskeeper.\u00a0They have been married for 39 years.\u00a0 Our Vision and Mission Several years ago, the Lord gave Pastor Eric a vision and mission for Circle of Faith Ministries: Strong Faith\/Strong Family. For us, this is not just a catchy phrase. This is the foundation of everything that we do as we strive to use our faith in God\u2019s word to build strong families who impact the world for the kingdom. Statement of Faith The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible. We accept those areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. We desire to allow for freedom of conviction on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation is based upon the Bible alone, and that no such interpretation shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us.\u00a0 There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality. Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever. Jesus lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith. Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator. That historic fall brought all mankind under divine condemnation. Man’s nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God by his own works. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. The salvation of man is wholly a work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to thosewho put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight. It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word. The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith. Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God. Believers receive spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit and are encouraged to share those gifts for the edification of other believers and the church. God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement. At physical death the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing. At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-45","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2389,"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions\/2389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circleoffaithministries.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}