Robert Burton, retired hospital chaplain, most recently at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, is Pastor of Riverside Avenue Baptist Church and Minister for Pastoral Care for our sister church First Baptist. A graduate of Carson-Newman College (B.A.) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (B.D., Th.M., and D.Min.), he is a Board Certified Chaplain (Retired), AAMFT Clinical Member, and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He and his wife, Lydia, sing in the choir at First Baptist. She is a registered nurse. They have three grown daughters, Grace, Mary Jane, and Nannette and five grandchildren, Jacob, Will, Helen, Audrey, and John. His hobbies include collecting books about cars (which is cheaper than collecting cars themselves) and being a rather serious audiophile with an assortment of vintage vacuum tube amplifiers.
Rebecca Roland, well respected musician and supporter of the arts, is organist for Riverside Baptist Church. Often in demand, she substitutes at other churches (including First Baptist) when their services do not coincide with Riverside.
Cathy France, a part of the Riverside family since childhood, serves as Director of Christian Education.