STEVE CRAWLEY

MD5 Co-Founder

Born and raised in South Mississippi, Steve came to the Conway area in 2004.  He is married to his best friend, Daura, and they have four children—Caleb (Lauren), Madelyn, Tymber (Aaron), and Ashlyn. Steve’s educational pursuits are varied (BSBA-Southern Miss (89); MBA-William Carey University (98); MAR-BMA Seminary (08); PHD-Dallas Baptist University (14)). Prior to entering the ministry full-time in 2004, Steve worked in the fields of finance and accounting, his last position being that of corporate controller for Cellu Tissue Holdings, Inc.

He currently serves as executive director of BMA Financial (previously known as Ministers Resource Services), a department of the Baptist Missionary Association of America, and he is a member of Antioch Baptist Church.

Steve enjoys working with men in MD5, spending time with his family and friends, yard work, exercise, sports, travel, hiking, and most any activity you can do at the lake!

ROGER SMITHSON

MD5 Co-Founder

Roger grew up in the paper mill town of Ashdown, AR.  He came to Conway in 1987 to attend UCA, where he received a BS in Chemistry in 1992.

Roger never left the Conway area and married Michelle Brown of Broken Bow, OK in 1997. Roger and Michelle have two daughters—Shali and Sofie .

Roger retired from Buckman Laboratories, Memphis, TN, after 30 years of service as the Corporate Sales Manager. He currently serves as a Master Coach with Team Trek coaching group in Tumbling Shoals, AR. 

His hobbies include reading, gardening, hunting, taxidermy, concerts, and going to Razorback games with his daughter. 

JEFF SWART

MD5 Curriculum Development Coordinator

Jeff Swart, and his wife, Debbie, after 45 years in the full-time ministry, retired in Conway, AR. Before retiring, Jeff pastored Baptist churches in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas; served as a church planter in Kansas and Missouri; and served on the faculty of several Bible colleges and a seminary. In 2021, he has served as Pastor of Sr. Adults at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway.

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Jeff is the author of The Church Planting Model, a step-by-step model for planting churches through personal evangelism and discipleship. This model is presently being used in more than 50 countries of the world and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

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Jeff earned a M.A. degree in Professional Counseling at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia and a M.R.E. degree at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Jacksonville, Texas. Jeff and his wife, Debbie have been married since 1972 and have 3 children: Josh and his wife, Michelle; Andy and his wife Carman; Rachel and her husband Jonathan and 10 precious grandchildren!

JOHN MERIWEATHER

MD5 Facilitator

John has served as the Director of Operations for the Baptist Missionary Association of America since 2016 after a 25 year career in Information Systems at Acxiom Corp.

He lives in Conway AR with his wife Holly. John and Holly have 3 children: Landon (Hailey) Meriweather, Sidney Meriweather, Olivia (Jansen) Riddle, and one grandchild, Phillip Riddle.

John is a member of Antioch Baptist Church in Conway where he leads a bible study class and is involved in men’s discipleship. John has the privilege of serving with his wife Holly at BMA America. Together they love to travel and explore new countries and cultures.

John loves to work, fish, and hunt on his farm. He also enjoys reading, running, sports of all kinds, and spending as much time as possible with his family.

JON ROSS HENDERSON

MD5 Facilitator

Jon Ross is a member of Second Baptist Church in Conway. 

During his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and enjoying the outdoors.

Jon Ross Henderson is the Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending for First Security Bank in Conway, AR; where he has been for the past 19 years. Through this time he has helped countless individuals achieve their financial goals.

In addition to working at First Security Bank, Jon Ross has been employed as an adjunct professor of Finance at the University of Central Arkansas. This position has been very rewarding; as he has had a chance to influence the lives of several undergraduate students over the past 10 years.

JEFF RIDDLE

MD5 Facilitator

Jeff has been married to Julie for 28 years and we have two grown sons, Blake (Chelsea) and Landon (Hannah) and two granddaughters (Brynlee and Lainie). 

He lives on his family cattle farm and enjoy everything outdoors.  

He is a member of Antioch Baptist Church and serves as a Sunday school teacher and Connect group host and facilitator. 

Jeff works at Central Baptist College where he serves as an instructor and Chair the Physical Education Department.

RYAN JOHNSON

MD5 Facilitator

Ryan lives in Conway, AR with his wife Sally and son Hudson. He was born in Grand Forks, ND and raised in Rockford, IL.

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After 22 years in higher education as a baseball coach and executive leader he is now self-employed through 3Sparrows Executive Services. He is a member of Antioch Baptist Church and co-teaches the Friends Adult Bible class.

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Ryan enjoys spending time with his family & friends and traveling especially with his wife, Sally.

He is a 2016 MD5 cohort graduate and has co-facilitated since 2017. He is passionate about fulfilling the Great Commission through men’s discipleship.

JOHN GORE

MD5 Facilitator

John grew up in White Hall, AR having a solid relationship with both of my parents. 

He graduated from White Hall High School in 2002 and graduated from Ouachita Baptist University with a degree in History and Communications with a minor in Christian Studies in 2006 and in 2008 from the University of Arkansas with a Master’s in History. A second master’s degree in Higher Education will be completed in May 2021 through Southern Arkansas University. Leslie and John have been married since 2009 and have two children, Lydia and Luke.  As a previous high school teacher, John taught AP U.S. and AP World History for nine years in Texas before God brought his family to Greenbrier in August of 2018. He now works remotely for Southern Arkansas University as the Assistant Director of Online Learning.

His family loves to be outside, hiking, being active, and spending time together.  He also enjoys studying Christian Apologetics, reading, running, and cycling.  

Larry Martin

MD5 Lab Facilitator

Larry gave his life to the Lord at the age of 9.  He has been actively involved in the Church in a variety of roles including Deacon, minister to youth, and bible teacher. 

Larry is currently the teacher of the Calvary’s Promise Class at Antioch where he has served for over 10 years. 

He shares his life with his wife Renie and will celebrate 35 years of marriage in 2021. Larry and Renie have two children, Aaron and Allison. Larry served as the President of Gadberry Group, LLC for 20 years and finished as a Vice President with RE/MAX Holdings, LLC, who acquired Gadberry Group in 2020.

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He completed the 2019 MD5 cohort under the leadership of Steve Crawley and Roger Smithson and is a co-facilitator of MD5 Lab with Travis Sellers.  

TRAVIS SELLERS

MD5 Lab Facilitator

Travis is the husband of Caroline and father to Mikyala, Tyler, Will and Riley.

He has been in the ministry for 25 years and served as the Worship Pastor at Antioch Conway for 10 of those years.

As a 2018 grad of MD5 he joined forces with Larry Martin in 2020 to lead out in MD5's next phase LAB.

Whether through music, preaching or small group mentoring, Travis endeavors to fulfill His greatest call in life, to worship God and make Him known.

THAD HARDIN

MD5 Facilitator

Thad is from McGehee, AR.  He’s a Family physician at Banister Lieblong Clinic in Conway, AR. 

He is married to Sara and has 2 sons, Ridge and Brady.  He attends Antioch Baptist Church and teaches adult married couple class, Faithmates. 

He enjoys staying active and spending time with his family outdoors. 

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MIKE BOOK

MD5 Facilitator

Mike is a full-time pastor of Prospect MBC in Jonesboro, AR.  Before being called to Prospect, he was able to serve 11 years as the bi-vocational pastor of Shady Grove MBC in Piggott, AR.  His “tent-making job” was teaching mathematics and coaching at Piggott High School.

He has been married to Theresa Gates (Hernando, MS) since 1988.  Theresa and Mike have a 25-year-old son, Addison, and a 21-year-old daughter, Savannah. They adopted both of them from South Korea when each was about six months old. 

Mike earned a BSE from ASU in Secondary Education in 1989, an MSE from William Woods in Secondary Administration in 2003, and a MACM in 2016 from the BMATS.

However, he states that he is most blessed to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

JUSTIN BURDICK

MD5 Facilitator

Justin lives in Olive Branch, MS with his wife Hollie, and their two boys, Elijah and Asher. He was born in Port Huron, MI but grew up and met his wife on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

He currently serves as Associate Pastor at Central Church in Southaven, MS. Where he has faithfully served since 2013.

Justin has a Bachelor’s in Psychology, with a background in IT and loves all things technology.

He enjoys spending time with friends, and those friends were his main drive to facilitate MD5.

PAUL HOPP

MD5 Facilitator

Paul was born in Woodstock, IL but grew up in Vilonia, AR with Christian parents and became a Christian himself at age 12. 
 
Paul has been married to Cindy since August 6, 1994 and they live just outside the Conway city limits. They have eight children. Paul and Cindy have been members of Antioch since August 2004. 
 
He is currently the Controller for Student Mobilization and has worked for StuMo for 30+ years.  He earned two degrees from UCA. He holds a BSE in Kinesiology and Health Education as well as a BA in Accounting. 
 
Paul enjoys being active and pursuing physical fitness as well as watching college sports.

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He is a 2022 MD5 cohort graduate and desires to help other men grow in their faith and life planning. 

ALEX VANHOUTEN

MD5 Facilitator

Alex went to Vanderbilt University completing his undergraduate in Chemistry and Psychology in 2010.

When traditional medical science failed to provide answers in his journey to overcome Ehlers Danlos (a rare genetic disorder that compromises collagen synthesis in various connective tissues), Alex’s career went from the traditional medical track - studying to become an orthopedic surgeon - to the pursuit of the healing power of intentional growth in mind, body, and spirit as a Master Trainer, Nutritionist, and Health Coach.

Alex has served thousands of individuals in their self-improvement by cultivating a reputation for long-term, results-focused interventions in an industry otherwise filled with fad-diets and superficial solutions and now owns and operates his health coaching company "The Betterment Co." and the "Better Daily" App - established in 2019.

He lives in Greenbrier, AR with his faithful wife Christin and his young warriors-in-training - Gabriel and Bennett with whom he loves hiking, fishing, camping, gardening, martial arts, writing and all things exercise. 

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He is passionate, honored, and humbled to be part of the good work God is doing in Men through MD5! 

Alex serves as the Children's Pastor at New Life Church in Greenbrier with a heart to see the families grow deeper in relationship with Christ. Poverty, trauma, fatherlessness, pain, addiction, atheism, a failed marriage, and grief are all parts of Alex's testimony for the power of God through Christ to transform and heal a man's mind, body, and spirit.

To Him be the glory, always, Amen.