Leadership

Pastor Chris Phillips is the Senior Pastor of River of Life Church, a thriving multi-generational, multicultural church in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Pastor Chris and his wife, Miriam, have a passion for military families and sponsor a military support group through the church that reaches hundreds of deployed servicemen and women every month.

Before coming to Jacksonville, Pastor Chris and Miriam spent four years as a missionaries in Brazil, South America, and continue to support several works in that country and around the world. Now, Pastor Chris has been in ministry for 30 years, and has a great passion for Jacksonville and the surrounding areas and providing pastoral leadership to River of Life Church.

Pastors Chris and Miriam have three grown children, Elise, Evan, and Erianna, two sons-in-law, Torre and Maurice, and a daughter-in-law, Brit, and three grandsons, Rio, Arthur, and Weston!

Pastor Miriam Phillips is a dynamic speaker and teacher who delivers the Word of God in a practical way. She and her husband Chris pastor River of Life Church in Jacksonville, NC, a multi-cultural, non-denominational and charismatic church that is impacting that area mightily.

Having grown up on the mission field, Pastor Miriam has a passion for the nations and has traveled all over the world teaching and preaching the Gospel. As head of the Fearless Warrior Princess Women’s Ministry and the Prophetic Ministry at River of Life, Pastor Miriam also has a desire to see women rise up and fulfill the purpose God has for them.

Pastor Miriam enjoys Kentucky basketball, coffee, chocolate, traveling and spending time with her six grown children, Torre and Elise, Evan and Brit, Maurice and Erianna and her beautiful grandsons, Rio, Arthur, and Weston!

Pastor Mason Phillips and his family came to Jacksonville because of the Marine Corps, where he served our country for four years before getting his Bachelor’s degree in IT.  He attended River of Life in its beginnings in the storefront, and has been on full-time staff at the church since 2006.

Pastor Mason wears several hats at River of Life.  Pastor Mason heads up all of the church IT, including podcasts and video, live streaming and Web site maintenance.  He is a tech guru and is always around to help the staff with various technical difficulties.  Pastor Mason is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and has coached many of the staff to use their strengths in the ministry.

Pastor Mason teaches spiritual development classes, including The Purple Book.  He also speaks approximately once a month at our weekly services, along with being an integral part of building the second location of River of Life Virginia.  Pastors Mason and Nanette took over as Lead Campus Pastors of the Virginia Campus in November 2020.

Pastor Mason and his wife, Nanette, have two beautiful children, Savannah and Derek.

Nanette is responsible for planning, organizing, managing, and coordinating various types of events and groups.  As an Interior Designer, she has a passion and gift for creating atmospheres. Pastors Mason and Nanette took as Lead Campus Pastors of the Virginia Campus in November 2020.

Pastor Jackie Hornage is the Children’s Minister here at River of Life.  Her father’s last duty station brought her to Jacksonville in the 1970s.  She graduated from Jacksonville High School and then attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where she graduated with a Bachelors in Education.  Pastor Jackie came to River of Life in the storefront church in 1993 and began serving.  In 2000, she transitioned from an elementary school teacher to full-time staff.

Pastor Jackie’s passion is seeing children come to know Jesus, and she always says that children are the biggest mission field in the world.  The Children’s Ministry at the church is a vital aspect of what we do to build the Kingdom of God, and Pastor Jackie is integral in building this ministry.  Each year she overseers other programs for the children — Vacation Bible School, Camp Dixie, Back to School Bash, Boys Night Out and more.

Pastor Jackie also heads up several other ministries, including the Nursing Home Ministry and Greeter’s Ministry.  She is an overseer in our Fearless Warrior Princess Ministry and team leader in our Prophetic Ministry.
Pastor Jackie is also a master at organizing volunteers and getting people plugged into church.  She loves to spend time with her family, reading, walking on the beach and in worship.

Justin directs the financial operations of River of Life.  He and his wife, Vanessa, are leaders at their home church in  Beulaville, NC, where they live with their three sons, Oliver, Theodore, and Charles.

Robin is responsible for assisting with the financial operations of the church and the day-to-day operations of the 2460 Bookstore.

Erianna and her husband Maurice lead the R Youth and ROL Young Adults here at River of Life.  Erianna is also an integral part of the office staff, serving as an administrative assistant. 

Topeka Benton is the Senior Executive Assistant for Pastors Chris and Miriam Phillips at River of Life Church, and juggles several aspects of the ministry that are vital in keeping things running smoothly.  

Rob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2009 and remained in the Jacksonville, NC area.  Rob currently serves on various ministries while heading up the facilities area of the church.

Evan, his wife Brit, and their two-year-old son Rio moved to Jacksonville after living in New York City for several years serving at Hillsong Church in 2021. He attended Hillsong College in Sydney, Australia and is passionate about spreading the Gospel worldwide. Evan is responsible for the live stream, media production, and other production aspects of the church.

Elise is responsible for the graphic design, printed materials, social media, marketing and various other areas of the church, and loves seeing people come to Jesus based on the creative stories the team tells. She and her husband, Torre, have a beautiful son, Arthur.

Latrice is passionate about leading people in worship and has been a part of the worship ministry at ROL since 2005.  She is responsible for coordinating the functionalities of the worship team.

Rhonda leads the incredible Cafe at River of Life. She also owns her own catering company and restaurant in the local community and is a part of many teams here at the church.

Calyn is the Administrative Assistant to Pastor Jackie in the River Kids Zone. She is originally from Malaysia and has been a Marine wife for over 20 years. She and her husband, Alan have 2 children, Abigail & Micah.

Karen leads our Middle School Ministry. She has a passion to help Tweens discover their identity in Christ and build a strong foundation in the Word of God.