Meet the staff. 

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Arun Pereira

Lead Pastor, Elder

Arun Pereira loves serving God’s people at Redeeming Grace Church as the lead pastor. He took on as the lead pastor in June 2023.

Arun was born in India and grew up in Georgia. After several years of living a very worldly lifestyle, he came to know Christ through a Haitian friend in 2004.

Arun was one of the early members of the Sovereign Grace Church of Frederick. It was there that he started his training in church leadership through Chris Silard and Trav Neumann. He was part of the Redeeming Grace Church plant in 2015 and led a small group with Brad Willock during the early days. Arun completed an in-depth elder training program at Redeeming Grace and was ordained in 2016. He went to the mission field in Haiti and went on to plant Gospel Haiti Community Church in Oriani, Haiti, and also implemented a 2 years pastor’s training program in Haiti in partnership with Redeeming Grace Church. Arun is the founder of Gospel Haiti, a non-profit organization (www.gospelhaiti.org).

Before taking on the lead pastor role at RGC, Arun was a school principal at Broadfording Christian Academy in Hagerstown, MD. He has a master's degree in Education Administration and a bachelor's degree in Business Economics. He was a math teacher and was trained in school administration in Frederick County, MD.

He is someone you would call a “bible nerd” who loves studying the Bible, especially the first 5 books. During his free time, he enjoys traveling to Haiti to be in his home away from home and be part of the mission community he founded. He met his wife, Marie-Anne, when he was a missionary in Haiti. They have been married since 2008 and have 3 children.

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Trav Neumann

Pastor/Teacher,ELDER

Trav is one of the founding pastors of Redeeming Grace Church. Prior to that, he was a church planter and served on the Pastoral Team at Living Hope Community Church in Frederick, MD, from 2006 to 2014.

Trav has 2 engineering degrees and a Masters's degree in business. He is also a 2008 graduate of the Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors College. Trav preaches regularly and provides counseling as well as leadership and discipleship training.

Trav is a native of Smithsburg, Maryland. He graduated from Smithsburg High School and has been married to his high school sweetheart Cindy for 45 years. He is a military veteran, has 3 children, 3 grandchildren and has lived in the Smithsburg area now for 60 years.

Fred Catoe

Family Life Pastor,ELDER

Fred joined the pastoral and elder team at Redeeming Grace Church in 2022. Fred is passionate about knowing and loving Jesus more and wants to help others experience more of the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ in their everyday lives.

Before joining the RGC team, he was on the church planting and leadership team and later was an elder at Living Hope Church (2006 to 2018), Cornerstone Church in Chester, PA (1995-2001), and Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia (1984 -1991).

Fred holds three Master’s degrees: two from Penn State (a Master's in Engineering and a Master's in Management Information Systems) and a Masters's Degree in Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. Fred also works a full-time job as a site manager at Fort Mead.

At RGC, Fred preaches regularly and provides guidance and counseling.

Fred was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Rockville, Maryland. Fred lives in Hagerstown with his wife, Jackie. They have seven children and nine grandchildren.

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Brad Willock (on Sabbatical)

Admin Pastor,ELDER

Brad grew up in Funkstown and moved to the Smithsburg area in 1989 where his school locker would be next to the girl of his dreams. Always with a soccer ball at his feet, Brad excelled in high school and went on to play soccer at the collegiate level at Bucknell University.  After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Brad and Becky were married and Brad took up a job in Information Technology consulting.

While active in the church growing up, it wasn't until 2004 that Brad came to saving faith. While reading the autobiography of Bill Bright, the Lord opened Brad's eyes of faith. He saw his need for forgiveness of sin and placed his faith and trust in Christ and began an exciting, new faith filled life journey. Brad and Becky became very involved in their church’s children’s ministry in staffing, training, and program development.

In 2007, Brad began to feel the stirrings of a call to ministry. He entered Liberty Seminary and graduated in 2012 with a Masters in Christian Leadership.  In 2010, with the desire still growing, he submitted his internal sense of calling to the pastors at Living Hope Community Church in Frederick and his burden to see churches planted in Smithsburg, Washington County, and beyond. While at Frederick, Brad had the privilege of working on projects and ministries in a variety of areas; counseling, children’s ministry, polity, technology, and leading a care group.  Following an detailed elder evaluation, Brad was confirmed as an Elder/ Pastor of Redeeming Grace Church.

Brad continues to work in IT leading workforce management for a global consulting company and has been a part of the Smithsburg community for more than 25 years. Brad and Becky have been married for more than 19 years and have 9 children; several through adoption and many with special needs. At his 6th grade confirmation, Brad was given Philippians 4:13 as a verse to commemorate the occasion.  The strength God provides has carried him through many trials and his confidence rests in the promise of that same strength for the days to come.