Written by Denni Palmer, Pastor of Discipleship

For this week’s spotlight, we are learning about our pastors Carl and Denni Palmer and their children!

Pastor Carl is a true fan of The Ohio State Buckeyes. He was born in Columbus, Ohio and got his bachelor’s degree from OSU. He did his M.Div. work at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky where he met Denni. Carl is currently working on his doctorate and also trying to perfect smoking meats and keeping up with all things Buckeye football. Carl is one of 7 kids and his mom, Mary, lives in Northwest Arkansas.

Denni grew up in the Central Time Zone as an IBM brat. Eventually her family settled in Fayetteville, Arkansas where she attended the University of Arkansas (woooo pig sooie!) before heading to Kentucky to attend Asbury where she earned her Master of Divinity. In addition to being an education pastor, she is a pharmacy tech, the official scheduler for the Palmers, and the diva cheesecake maker for all family and friends. Her parents and her middle sister live in

Fayetteville but they also frequently visit her youngest sister in Texas.

Before introducing our children, please note that there are some simple things to understand about our family. No, we do not all share the same DNA, but we are all a family. They are all our real children. Also, they all have overcome difficult circumstances, and some are still working on moving past their past.

With that being said, here are our kids:

Gretchen (upper right, black shirt) is the oldest. She graduated December 2023 from the University of Arkansas with a degree in criminology and psychology and is already working in mental health.

Kirsten (upper left, blue shirt) is the second oldest and always helping her friends and siblings; she is working in the restaurant industry full time and loves both serving her customers and working in the kitchen.

Katrina (2nd row, white shirt) has her own little family with her husband Ben and their son, Tanner. While Tanner’s mom and dad work, he is busy learning how to get past barriers, make lots of noises, and get into everything. He turned one just after Christmas and has made life very sweet. Katrina is studying to become a veterinary technician. They will be moving to Cape this summer.

Teasha (3rd row, blue shirt) just graduated high school and exploring options for her future while bossing her long time boyfriend, Malaki, around as often as she can.

Jason (3rd row, green shirt) is headed into his senior year of high school in the fall, loves cars, building things and pointing out that he is taller than dad.

Elizabeth “Ellie” (lower left, blue shirt) will be a junior in the fall and does color guard, singing, and caring for animals.

Michael (lower right, green shirt) loves sports and will also be a junior in the fall. He is also a cadet in Civil Air Patrol and hopes to go into the Air Force.