Pastor Walter Sheets was born in Missouri and accepted Christ as his personal Savior as a teenager. He married his High School sweetheart, Barbara Wright, and they have two children, Rodney of Ashland City, Tennessee and Stephanie of Mt. Zion, Illinois. Following two years in the Army, Walter and Barbara moved their young family to Illinois.

Walter holds a Bachelor of Science/Business Administration degree from Southern Illinois University; a Master of Business Administration degree from Lindenwood University; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Covington Theological Seminary.

Prior to becoming a full-time pastor, he served as General Service Manager for Hewlett-Packard Company and vice president of OfficePlus Corporation of St. Louis. It was during his tenure with OfficePlus that God placed a call of full-time ministry upon his heart. Leaving the corporate world and a well paid secular job, Walter became the pastor of Royalton First Church of the Nazarene in Southern Illinois. He has since served as Senior Pastor of First Church of the Nazarene in Pana, Illinois and Parkway Church in Decatur, Illinois before joining our church family in March 2004.