“Hey, Coats Baptist. My Name Is Kayl.”

written by Kayl Whitaker, Supply Worship Leader (October 15, 2023)

Hey, Coats Baptist!  My name is Kayl (Kyle) Whitaker and it is a pleasure to be joining the ministry team, albeit temporarily, here at Coats Baptist.  If you’re wondering about the spelling of my name, first off, no that is not a typo, it is the actual spelling of my name. I was given that unique spelling because when my Mom, Brenda, gave birth to me via C-Section, she began to run a fever of 102º to 103ºF and was on painkillers when she named me. My Dad, Joel, being the wise man that he is, didn’t argue with her about the spelling thinking she knew what she wanted! 

I am a born and raised North Carolina native growing up thirty minutes west of Winston-Salem near Yadkinville, North Carolina in the small community of Courtney.  My passion for church and vocal music began from a young age having grown up in my home church choir at Courtney Baptist Church since early childhood. I surrendered my life to Christ as Savior and was baptized at the ripe old age of 6, but by age 16, just before starting High School, I felt the Holy Spirit's conviction that I was not actually living the life of full surrender to Christ which I had declared in childhood.  So after speaking with my youth Sunday School teacher at the time, I rededicated my life to Christ and asked to be baptized again to declare my full submission to Christ as Lord of my life.

 I answered the call to the music ministry during my senior year of High School. Upon graduation, I moved to the Buies Creek area in 2004 attending Campbell University to study Church & Comprehensive Music with a concentration in Voice.  I received my Bachelor of Arts in that field in 2009.  I then went on to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina to receive my Masters of Church Music degree with a concentration in Vocal Pedagogy in 2014.   I have been on staff with churches in the Hope Mills, Lillington, and the Buies Creek areas since 2005 functioning in a bi-vocational capacity. I am currently a full time member of the faculty at South Johnston High School in Four Oaks as the Chorus & Drama teacher since 2018.

I met my beautiful wife, Leighanne, while on staff at Pleasant Union Christian Church when she joined the worship choir there and we married in 2019 just before being called to Buies Creek First Baptist Church.  Leighanne is a History and Yearbook teacher at Fayetteville Christian School in Fayetteville, North Carolina and is also an integral partner with me in my Music & Worship ministry.  She is a Harnett County native, growing up in Angier within walking distance of Harnett Central High School.  Currently we live in Dunn and we have a spicy fur-baby named Dax who runs the house the way only a black cat could.

Alright, now that the background story is done, shall we get to the heart of the subject? “What is Kayl all about?” As I stated above, I love music and singing, but specifically, my heartfelt passion is worshiping Christ with the musical gifts He has given me by leading others into worship of Christ with a servant's heart. I want to serve Christ through serving others and His bride, the church. As your worship supply leader, my goal is to help you maintain stability during this time of transition here at Coats Baptist. I have no ulterior motives or aspirations to change a single thing currently happening here. I am here to simply fill a need in God’s church while the search for God’s chosen worship leader begins. 

God used Jonathan Waggett and his wife in great and mighty ways during their eight years as your Worship Pastor to build this music ministry the way the Father wanted, and it is an honor to maintain that work during my brief time here.  Jonathan has planned all of the worship services for the remainder of the year, and it will be my pleasure to step in and help lead those services alongside your lead worship team with the direction of the pastoral staff.  

My wife, Leighanne also wishes to help the music and worship ministry in any way that she can as she shares the same passion for service and worship of Christ as I do.  We are but humble servants of the Most High King, Jesus Christ and His Father.

Leighanne and I are thankful for the opportunity to serve Christ and are looking forward to what God has in store for us during our time here at Coats Baptist Church!