Michael Cook

Pastor Michael grew up in Chattooga County and graduated from Trion High School. He was saved in middle school at 11 years old at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) conference and was baptized at Trion First Baptist Church. Pastor Michael has lived in Chattooga County his whole life except during college, where he lived in Athens and Carrollton, Georgia.

While pursuing a career in medicine, he felt God calling him to ministry and decided to follow God's will for his life above everything else. After this, he served as a volunteer chaplain and as the Men's Discipleship Leader at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) on his college campus. He is currently a Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student and pursuing a Master of Divinity degree in Preaching and Pastoral Ministry.

Pastor Michael now serves as the Discipleship Pastor at Dry Valley Baptist Church, where he hopes to deepen others' faith and move the church toward spiritual maturity. As he faithfully preaches the Word of God and teaches on numerous spiritual disciplines of the Christian life, he hopes to bring up disciple-makers and leaders in the church and show that we can forever grow in Christ.

• University of West Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Men's Discipleship Leader, 2022-2023, Led the men's ministry for the campus ministry by leading Bible studies, mentoring and equipping disciples, and preaching.
• Tanner Medical Center, Volunteer Chaplain, 06/17/2022 - 09/17/2022, Counseled and witnessed patients in the hospital. Talked with the families of patients and helped to provide care during end-of-life decisions.
• Cross Camp Carrollton Church Retreat, Leader, Mentored a group of teens during a weeklong multi wide church retreat to the beach. This involved watching and being responsible for them, and leading breakout sessions and small group discussions.
• Dry Valley Baptist Church, Discipleship Pastor, 08/06/2023 - Current Position, Move to deepen other's faith and move the church towards spiritual maturity. Faithfully preach the Word of God and teach on numerous spiritual disciplines of the Christian life, in hopes to bring up disciple-makers and leaders in the church and show that we can forever grow in Christ. Responsibilities include preaching, Sunday School, Bible studies, small groups, baptisms, new believers follow up, membership class, teaching, counseling, in-reach ministry, Scripture readings, conferences, etc.
• Water From The Valley Podcast, Host, 02/16/2024 - Current, Host of the podcast Water From the Valley alongside Senior Pastor Lee. Planning and speaking on doctrines, Scripture, ministry, church, and life.