Ernest grew up in Mechanicsville, VA but spent much of his boyhood in his grandparents’ home on the Mattaponi Indian Reservation. In 1981 he graduated from Bridgewater College with a BA in French and Secondary Education and he and Mary married just a week later. After several years teaching high school French and coaching sports, he began his own business in the health insurance field. In 1987 he helped plant Grace Church of Fredericksburg and has moved from Worship Pastor to Lead Pastor over the 30 years he has served here. Ernest loves interacting with people, playing with his grandkids, hiking with Mary, the Boston Red Sox, hunting, talking about hunting, and eating what he’s hunted.