Brian Harmon

Brian Harmon is a native of Raleigh County and graduated from Shady Spring High School. He is also a veteran who served as a field corpsman in the United States Navy. Pastor Brian graduated from Concord University with an interdisciplinary degree in biology and chemistry in 1994. He met his wife Leslie at Concord who currently serves as a reading teacher at Beckley-Stratton Middle School. Leslie loves to sing and has led worship for two decades.

During the late 1990s, Pastor Brian served as a Christian School science teacher and Associate Pastor while living in North Carolina. He was ordained into gospel ministry in 2000 at Agape Baptist Church in Mebane, North Carolina. In 2001, Pastor Brian and his family returned to Beckley, West Virginia to answer the call to plant Nehemiah Baptist Church. During his 17-year tenure serving Nehemiah Baptist Church, he led church growth initiatives and the building program in 2005. Pastor Brian earned a Master’s Degree in pastoral counseling from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (2009) and a Doctorate degree in education from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (2012) while pastoring at NBC.

In 2012, Pastor Brian stepped away from the pastorate to follow God’s call to be an educational leader and to assist in the launch Northeastern Baptist College in Bennington, Vermont, the only Christian college in the state. Pastor Brian served as the Dean of Academics and Professor of Church Planting and Christian Education from 2013-2017. He continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of the college teaching undergraduate and graduate courses.

From 2017-2023, Pastor Brian served as a Church Revitalizer of Nehemiah Baptist Church and oversaw the replanting of NBC to LifeSpring Church in 2022. He led initiatives for the church to experience new growth and vibrancy again. After serving nearly two decades with NBC and LifeSpring Church, Pastor Brian retired from the church in the Fall of 2023.

Beginning in the Fall of 2024, Pastor Brian began working at Greater Beckley Christian School as a High School science teacher and serving as the Lead Pastor for First Baptist Church Shady Spring.

 Pastor Brian and Leslie have been married for 32 years and have 4 children and 4 grandchildren.