Staff - First Baptist Church

Our Staff

Our leadership is spiritually inspired to help First Baptist grow as we serve the community.

Dr. Rob Collins has served as the Senior Pastor at First Baptist since October of 2018. He came here after serving as Associate Pastor of Locust Grove Baptist Church in New Market, AL for over ten years.

Dr. Rob holds a Doctor of Ministry from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University (Atlanta, GA), a Master of Divinity from Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity (Boiling Springs, NC), and a Bachelor of Arts from Howard Payne University (Brownwood, TX). He grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and is an avid Dallas Mavericks fan.

In ministry Dr. Rob uses storytelling to help others experience the love of God. When not in the pulpit Dr. Rob appreciates reading, watching movies, traveling with his family, and playing board games.

Rob is married to Casey, who he met while serving in Alabama. They were married in June of 2010 and together they have two young children.

Casey is a Special Education teacher, with a Masters degree from Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, AR) and a Bachelors degree from Samford University (Birmingham, AL). Casey teaches at Sterling Middle School and serves on the Board of Directors for Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service. Outside of teaching Casey enjoys family time, exercising, reading, painting, witty comedies, and hot cups of coffee.

email Rob@fbcpeoria.org

Rev. Liz Jones (she/her/hers) has been blessed to build a “Panvocational” ministry, weaving a life and livelihood from multiple roles in both church and secular life. Most recently, she served as Minister for Community Life and Communication at the First Congregational Church of Evanston, IL. At FCC, Liz led youth and children’s ministries, cultivated intergenerational community life, and told the church’s story via digital media.

Prior to serving at FCC, Liz was pastor of Grace Baptist Church and interim pastor of Hyde Park Union Church, both in Chicago. She also previously served as administrative coordinator for the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago and worked for nearly a decade for the Heartland Alliance, most recently as a data specialist for programs supporting refugee and immigrant adults and children.

Liz graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English. After moving to Chicago as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, she began to sense God’s calling to ministry and earned a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2010. She was ordained in 2014 at the Community Church of Wilmette.

Liz believes that the local church is the location where people meet God and find their place in God and God’s work within the world. She believes that young people are not the future of the church, but the present, and that church should be a place of both nurture and liberation for children and teens.

In 2024, Liz and her wife Heidi and daughter Jasper followed Liz’s family to Peoria. When not fully engrossed keeping a two-year-old alive, Liz enjoys singing with the Heart of Illinois Chorus, hiking, traveling, and reading. She looks forward to ministering with God’s people here at FBC and continuing to raise her own feral church kid in the church’s hallways.

email liz@fbcpeoria.org

Dr. Mark Grizzard serves as Music Director, directing Praise Band, Chancel Choir, Youth Band, and coordinating other aspects of music ministry including the guitar ensemble Higher Ground, solos, and small groups. He organizes the annual Summer Music Festival and Christmas concert, and he strives to create places for all types of musicians to worship genuinely through music.

Mark holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he serves as Instructional Assistant Professor at the Illinois State University School of Music. He has years of professional experience as a performer, composer, arranger, educator, and clinician, and he lives in Peoria with his wife Leigh and their two daughters.

Leigh Grizzard serves as Handbell Choir Director and Director of Kids Worship at First Baptist. In addition to her duties at FBC, Leigh is Director of Vocal Music at Pekin Community High School, where she conducts curricular choirs as well as the Pekin Noteables Show Choir. She has a passion for connecting with the next generation through music and serving our Lord.

Leigh holds a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, Indiana). She has been an active musician in the Peoria area as a singer for the Peoria Bach Festival, member of the chamber ensemble Lumiere, and a soloist with the Peoria Municipal Band. She lives in Peoria with her husband Mark and two beautiful daughters.

Cindy Courtney has been a member of FBC for over 35 years. She has served on and was chairperson of numerous boards including: Diaconate, Trustees (chairman during Covid shutdown), and Church Clerk. Cindy assisted Rev. Thomas Bayes Jr. with Baptism classes for over seven years.

She has three grown children: Bobby Aaron, Devon Elliott, and Deanna Zuercher, along with four grandsons, a step-grandson and step-granddaughter.

When Cindy isn’t keeping the church office running like a well-oiled machine, she is an avid Star Trek fan! She also collects lighthouses, Gnomes, and loves all things American Girl and Ruby Red Fashion Friends dolls!

email office@fbcpeoria.org