We believe in prioritizing the next generation of leaders. We seek to pass the faith to those coming behind by investing in emerging leaders and empowering them with increasing amounts of influence. Emerging leaders are the future of the church and we seek to empower emerging leaders to participate in God’s global purposes.

Craig Rush

Senior Pastor

Pastor Craig loves to see people connect! Whether it's coffee with friends, writing, or speaking, connecting people to God and others is his greatest passion! Craig and his wife, Bethany, have three beautiful kids, Elliott, Evelyn, and Everett, who, as you might imagine, keep them pretty busy. In his spare time, you might find Craig coaching baseball, going for a long run, or shooting hoops with the kids.

Ed Haywood

Senior Adult & Care Pastor

Ed and Shirley, his wife of 47 years came to Tab when the African American church he was pastoring merged with Tab in March 2016. When the two churches merged, he assumed the position of Associate Pastor of Outreach at Tab. Pastor Ed became the Senior Pastor of Tab in 2018 until Pastor Craig was called as Senior Pastor. Pastor Ed now serves as the Senior Adult & Care Pastor. If you can’t find Pastor Ed, please look on the backroads of Hampton Roads where you will probably finding him riding his Trek FX 6 or jamming on his clarinet or visiting seniors. He also has the smartest and most beautiful grandchildren in the state of Virginia, New York and Colorado (Cadi, Sohanna, Zuri, and Hadassah).

Sarah Hall

Church Administrator

Sarah has had many roles at Tab Church, from working at WeeOnes Daycare to being the Family Ministry Director. She loves connecting with everyone, young and old, and gets much enjoyment in her new role as the Church Administrator. Sarah and her husband, Josh, are originally from Charleston, West Virginia, but have been in Norfolk since 2006. They have three children, two of which are married. Sarah was first drawn to serving in Children’s Ministry, which then expanded into Youth and Women’s Ministries and anything else she can get plugged into. She has a genuine heart for connecting and serving with others.

Imani Johnson

TabKids Director

Imani is a pastor's kid and a Hampton Roads native from Suffolk, Virginia. With a passion for ministry at a young age, Imani has served and led with kids and youth, college, music, and camp ministry. Imani studies Early Childhood Education and loves to hang out with her favorite little humans...preschoolers! She is excited to minister to the TabKids and lead with the TabKids Team.

Daniel Bridges

TabYouth Director

Daniel and his wife Jenna met at a Texas church camp in high school where Daniel felt a calling on his life to pursue a life involved in ministry. It wasn't until Daniel was transitioning out of the military that he decided to answer that call and pursue it fully. Daniel is excited about the opportunity to facilitate the fellowship and growth that can happen inside the youth ministry among the next generations. His desire is to establish a firm foundation that the youth will always be able to fall back on.

Ben Mekkes

Weekend Experience Producer

Ben and his wife Kiersten (and baby Everleigh) have grown (are growing) up at Tab and have enjoyed being a part of the congregation for far too long. Ben started working at Tab in 2015 as the Music Director but has slowly grown into taking on more responsibilities shaping the Sunday morning experience online and in-person. Ben enjoys following the Lord's leading to craft a service for a widely diverse congregation. He hopes the services at Tab reflect the reality of Heaven and express the child-like joy that comes with having a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Ed Hilton

Facility Director

Ed’s Tab roots continue to grow having previously attended with his family while his wife Sue served as Director of Children’s Ministries and now he’s back with his son Ben, the TabYouth Director. Ed and Sue have four children (Alexandra, Jacob, Ben, and Jonathan) and four grandchildren. His favorite activities revolve around time with the family, whether that is a crowd for holidays, birthdays or “just because” days, stirring up the grandchildren, watching high school football in the fall and basketball in the winter and best of all, enjoying good movies, good meals, brisk walks, and fun times with Sue.

Lynette Young

Finance Director

Lynette and her husband Jonathan have been faithfully serving at Tab for many years. You can always find them helping out somewhere on a Sunday morning or during the week. Lynette moved to Norfolk, with her family in 1981. She attended and graduated from Norfolk Christian Schools in 1986. She and Jonathan married and now have three grown children, Samuel, Noah and Lizzie. If Lynette is not working in her office, you will find her sitting on a beach somewhere soaking up the sun or working away in her craft room.

Lizzie Young

WeeOnes Daycare Director

Lizzie has been a member of Tab  Church since she was a kid in Sunday School. She began volunteering in  the children's ministry on Sunday mornings when she was in 5th grade. Since then she has found her passion for teaching children, and has been an employee of WeeOnes since she was 14. When she's not busy taking care of littles, Lizzie enjoys hiking with her dog Winston, relaxing at the beach or creating art! 

Caitlin Morris

Live Video Director

Caitlin is a Virginia Beach native and has lived there her whole life. She recently graduated from Regent University with a B.A. in Cinema-Television. Some of Caitlin's loves include God, friends, family and of course, movies and TV. 

Emma Geis

Graphics & Social Media Manager

Emma and her family called Norfolk home from 2015-2022, but she has since moved to Chicago, IL to earn her master’s degree in Biomedical Visualization. She received her B.F.A. in Communication Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2022 and married her high school sweetheart shortly afterwards. She is honored to be using her artistic and design abilities to serve Tab Church from afar!