October 2, 2026
CHATSWORTH, Ga. — Nearly one year after becoming senior pastor of Holly Creek Baptist Church, Scott Linginfelter is helping the congregation move into a new season marked by evangelism, discipleship, and steady leadership.
Linginfelter began serving the Chatsworth church on Sept. 14, 2025, following Danny Cochran, the beloved pastor who had led Holly Creek for almost a quarter of a century.
After a very effective ministry at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, Linginfelter has already won the hearts of his new congregation.
Eric Shields, a member of the pastor search team that sought out Linginfelter, said the new pastor quickly earned the respect and admiration of the Holly Creek Baptist Church family.
“Pastor Scott is a faithful servant who has quickly earned the respect and admiration of the Holly Creek Baptist Church family,” Shields said. “He has developed a team-based ministry approach among the existing staff, lay leaders, and members.”
Shields said Linginfelter’s passion for reaching the community is evident in the charge he gives the congregation at the end of each service.
“When you leave here, Jesus goes with you,” Linginfelter tells them. “Find some way, somehow, to tell somebody about Jesus this week.”
Mike Long, the church’s Sunday School director, said Linginfelter has continued Holly Creek’s ministry of biblical preaching and strong leadership.
“He has been wholeheartedly accepted as the leader God has sent to us,” Long said. “Our church has experienced a moving of the Holy Spirit as God continues to add to His Kingdom.”
Linginfelter came to Holly Creek with deep roots in Baptist life and ministry. He was born in Huntsville, Alabama, but calls Benton, Tennessee, home because his father, Steven E. Linginfelter, served for many years as pastor of First Baptist Church in that Polk County seat. Scott’s brother, Will, is also in Chatsworth, where he pastors Zion Hill Baptist Church and teaches in the XL program at Woodlawn Elementary School.
Scott Linginfelter had an interesting path into his ultimate calling to pastoral ministry. He is a graduate of Carson-Newman University, but the cost of being educated there seemed to be beyond his reach. However, he discovered that the school offered music scholarships to deserving students, and Linginfelter, who had a considerable penchant for music, applied for the scholarship and received it.
Linginfelter graduated from Carson-Newman with a Bachelor of Music degree. While a student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he served as minister of music at Parkside Baptist Church in Columbus, Indiana.
“God significantly used music in my life, and I love to praise the Lord in song,” he said.
Though music played an important role in his ministry, Linginfelter knew God had called him to be a pastor. He continued his education by completing a Master of Divinity at Southern Seminary and earning a Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
The Alabama native spent 21 years as pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. While there, he said the church wanted to help people have a relationship with God and with one another.
“It starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ,” Linginfelter said during his ministry at Mount Carmel. “So, here at our church, we want to exalt Jesus in all that we do.”
Many good things happened at Mount Carmel during Linginfelter’s ministry there. Baptist Press lauded his success in leading the church to pay off a $1.5 million construction loan, become debt free, double its gifts to the Cooperative Program from 5 percent to 10 percent, and increase its gifts to the local Baptist association from 3 percent to 5 percent.
At Holly Creek, Linginfelter has a desire to see Holly Creek Baptist Church grow with an emphasis on reaching people and helping them mature in their faith.
For example, he asks each Sunday School class to record the number of contacts its members make each week, and he announces the total number of contacts recorded in the Sunday morning worship service.
“We typically have between 40 and 80 contacts made each week,” he reported.
This emphasis on outreach is beginning to reap benefits because Sunday School attendance is beginning to increase.
The Holly Creek pastor is preaching on the various doctrines addressed in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message on Sunday mornings. On Wednesday evenings, he is preaching a series of sermons on Daniel’s prophecies.
Linginfelter said he wants Holly Creek to be known for taking the life-changing gospel of Christ Jesus throughout Murray County.
Next year, Scott Linginfelter and his wife, Christa, will celebrate 30 years of marriage. They have three children, Elijah, Lydia, and Caleb, and one precious grandchild named Juliette.
Scott enjoys hunting and fishing, but he and Christa also try to take time away from their busy lives to visit some special attraction in Georgia. Those times away give the couple needed time to focus on each other and return refreshed for the work of ministry.
As Linginfelter approaches the end of his first year at Holly Creek, those who serve alongside him say he has brought a heart for evangelism, a fervor for equipping his church, and an earnest desire to help his dear people experience a genuine revival.
Share with others
