Originally hailing from Eugene, Oregon, Tony Hadley has spent most of his adult life in the quaint towns of the Willamette Valley. He has been married to his beloved wife, Trina, for eight years, but their friendship spans over three decades. Almost three years ago, Tony and Trina moved to Florida and found Legacy Church. They were instantly drawn to Legacy because of the Bible-centered sermons and the warm, welcoming community.Tony loves reading, writing, and collecting comic books. He also enjoys turning wood pens on his lathe. This is Tony’s first time serving as an Elder, fulfilling a long-held aspiration from his Bible college days in the early 1990s. For the past year, he has been actively involved in Legacy’s finance committee and serving on the worship team behind the scenes in the tech booth. Tony and Trina have five grown children and two grandsons. Their children are spread across Oregon, Florida, and Idaho, each bringing unique and delightful traits to their family. Tony is dedicated to his faith and community, always seeking opportunities to serve and support those around him.
Andy McGaffigan is a lifelong Floridian whose faith in Christ has shaped his life since he came to Christ at fourteen. His early years were marked by challenge and instability, but that decision to follow Jesus became the anchor that brought clarity, peace, and purpose. Andy met his wife, Jill, while they were students at Florida Southern College, where he excelled as a baseball scholarship athlete.
Andy and Jill have been joyfully married for 45 years and have built their life in Lakeland since 1984. They are blessed with three adult children—Robin, Drew, and Joshua—who all live locally with their spouses and are raising ten grandchildren.
Andy has been part of Legacy from its earliest days and previously served as an elder at both Grove Park Christian and Legacy Christian Church, including during the merger that formed our current church family. Over the years, he has contributed to several church and para-church ministry boards and continues to serve faithfully. He and Jill host a Community Group in their home. He also leads as the Committee Chair for Trail Life Troop FL-4316 and serves on the Finance Committee. When he has time away from ministry and work, he enjoys golf, fishing, hunting, and time with family, especially on trips to their North Carolina mountain home.
Professionally, Andy spent nearly fifteen years as a professional baseball pitcher, including parts of eleven seasons in the Major Leagues with the Yankees, Giants, Expos, Reds, and Royals. After retiring from MLB in 1992, he built a meaningful career in the Lakeland community and has spent the past twenty-five years as a financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual, helping individuals and families pursue long-term security and wise stewardship. God’s kindness has been evident throughout Andy’s life, and he continues to serve Legacy with humility, gratitude, and a heart for people
Jerry Barnes, a Virginia native, has been married to his wife, Laura, for 57 years. The couple moved to Lakeland, Florida, in 2022 to join their daughter and her family. Jerry and Laura have dedicated much of their lives to church service, having served as youth workers, adult and elementary Bible teachers, deacon, and elder in three different churches. They have also led several small groups over the years. The couple has two children and eight grandchildren, who bring them great joy. Jerry, an Army Corps of Engineers veteran, has lived in various cities, always remaining active in their local churches. Jerry has authored several books, with a fourth soon to be released. A passionate New York Mets fan, Jerry also enjoys dramatic and comedic acting and has been involved in acapella quartets. Active church participation has been a cornerstone of their lives, defining their journey and service to the community.
Originally from Maine, Ted and his wife of 40 years, Terry, moved to Florida in June of 2022 to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. They immediately started looking for a church home and joined Legacy because they loved the loving atmosphere, the joy of the worship, and that people talked before and after service because they loved one another. Ted has served as an elder previously at his former church home in Maine. He has worked as a self-employed electrician for many years and enjoys working with his hands and gardening. He serves at the dream center, Legacy Porch, and in the worship band. Ted is friendly, helpful, and has a great sense of humor.
While gearing up to move from Philadelphia to Florida in 2018, Jerry and Joan found Legacy because of an article they read about a church that had split and eventually came back together. Believing that this was a church that understood reconciliation and restoration, they made Legacy their church home. Jerry is a community group leader and teaches occasionally as well. Jerry and his wife of 28 years, Joan, co-founded Luke 14 Exchange. Through Luke 14 Exchange, Jerry encourages families and mentors individuals affected by disability. He particularly likes speaking at summer camps for children and families affected by disability. Jerry loves baseball and reading books.
Steve Brooke was born in 1968 with a skull condition that usually resulted in death or severe lifelong debilitation for the children who had been born with it, but when an experimental surgery saved him, he remembers his grandparents telling him early in life that he was a miracle and God must have a purpose for his life. Those may have been the only words Steve ever grew up hearing about God, but they stuck with him for a long time through a lot of brokenness and pain. Growing up in broken, godless marriages and homes, Steve became disillusioned with family, distracted with temptation, and dabbling in sin, quite early in his life. But before his life could spin totally out of control, someone invited his broken family to their church. And even though he was that rebellious high schooler in the eighties, and resisted being part of the church, there was something about the love and family he felt in that church that won him over to trusting Christ as His Lord & Savior, being baptized, and becoming part of the church family. There in the church, serving as a youth worker, Steve also met Renee, and after they married in 1990, his church called him to be their youth minister, where he began to learn and exercise a life of sharing Christ and helping shepherd Christ’s family, the church. That church helped him go to seminary. They eventually sent him to plant churches for them in Portland, Oregon, the most unchurched area of the country. Over that decade, Steve and Renee’s children, Zechariah, Noah and Grace, spent much of their formative years growing up in a happy Christian home. He was thankful for the call to minister on the large team of a large church in Jacksonville Florida.
It just so happened that a year later in 2019, Steve was asked to come to Lakeland to help lead Legacy Christian Church out of one of those extreme moral crises brought on by a fallen leader that often destroys a church. But when Steve and Renee kept witnessing the providence of God’s timing & the persistence of these Christians at Legacy to be a healthy loving and vibrant church family, the Brookes prayed, and by late 2019, accepted the call to lead Legacy. Initially they thought God’s purpose was clear… help this church family navigate its way back to health from a devastating moral crisis. Only months into 2020 and they quickly realized God had brought them to help their new church family navigate their way through the larger crisis of a global pandemic. After 30+ years of ministry, in the midwest, the northwest, & the southeast, Steve is often reminded of his grandparents’ words from so long ago that God must have a purpose for his life. Steve loves Jesus, His church, his Renee, and their three kids. He is passionate about the Bible and enjoys traveling, paddle boarding, playing guitar, and singing and writing music too.
Bryan Curry brings a gentle, servant-hearted spirit to Legacy. He and his wife, Beth, have been married for 37 years.
Bryan graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources and spent 31 years with the City of Newark Wastewater Treatment Plant, serving for two decades in leadership as Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent.
Faith and service have marked Bryan’s life for a long time. He and Beth were part of Meadowview Church of Christ for 19 years, where he served as a deacon for 15 of those years, and later worshiped at Heath Church of Christ for a decade. Legacy has deep personal roots for Bryan as well—his parents, Gary and Barb Curry, both attended here before him.
Bryan and Beth have two daughters they are incredibly proud of. Cayla lives in Lake Wales and has blessed them with four grandchildren. Britany serves as a major in the United States Air Force and is currently stationed in California.
After following Legacy online for several months, Bryan and Beth began attending in June 2024. Bryan volunteers with Adopt-A-Block on Wednesdays. His steady kindness, love for people, and willingness to step in wherever needed have already made a meaningful impact on our church family.
Tim Jacobs grew up in South Carolina and accepted Christ and was baptized at 10 years old. He spent a lot of time as a young man working with the youth ministry and at a crisis outreach center. Tim and Sarah, his wife of 17 years, found Legacy because he was looking for a Christian church like the one they came from. They have been at Legacy for the last 12 years. This skilled auto mechanic loves serving and fellowshipping with his community group. Tim has two kids and loves flying, building computers, racing, and kayaking. He is a disciplined and hard-working man.
Tim Paul has been with this congregation for over 30 years and has served as an elder off and on for the last 25 years. Tim leads Unplugged (a college-aged ministry), the benevolence ministry, and occasionally teaches a class as well. He has also served as a trustee for Lake Aurora for many years. He has been married for 54 years and has three children and two grandchildren. Tim excels at next generation ministry, teaching, and hospitality. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and helping Marilyn with Options for Women. He is a steadfast Christian, husband, father, and friend.
