Benjamin Abbott- Minister of Discipleship
"Building relationships is what we're all about. Not just inviting people to join us at church, but to join us on the path of life." - Pastor BenBen is the lead church planter of Multiply Christian Church, Inc. Before full-time ministry, he served 10 years in the USAF achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. After the military, he double majored for a BA in Bible and Preaching & Church Leadership at Johnson Bible College, Tennessee (2009). Over the following years, Ben has led churches in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Prince Edward Island (Canada). While in Canada, he also worked as an Adjunct Professor at Maritime Christian College, Charlottetown, PEI. Upon returning to the United States, Ben worked on the pastoral staff at Wilmington Church of Christ (Ohio). He left that position in order to earn the Master of Strategic Ministry degree at Johnson University, Florida (2018). He completed his master's residency at Real Life in Clermont, FL. In 2019-20, Ben completed a church-planting distance residency with Passion 4 Planting based in Chantilly, VA.
Ben and his wife Jody have been married since 1998 and they have three children, Madeline, Micah & Noah. A little-known fact about the Abbott children (aside from them all having different hair colors) is that they were each born in different locations: Pittsburgh, PA; Knoxville, TN; and Charlottetown, PEI, Canada. The whole family is now super excited to call Central Florida "home."
Odd Fact: Ben thinks "rickrolling" people is hilarious!
Jody Abbott - Worship & Children's Director
"Seldom do we know the importance of a teaching moment when they are taking place. Jesus cares about our little ones more than we could ever know." - JodyJody helped launch Multiply as co-planter with her husband Ben. Since then, she's served in key roles as the Worship Director and Children's Director. Jody earned a BA in Vocal Performance at the University of Pittsburgh. In the musical world, Jody has made a few accomplishments. As a singer/songwriter she had one of her original songs, "Dancing with the Angels," featured by Delilah Rene on her nationally syndicated radio show. From a teaching standpoint, Jody has extensive experience teaching in roles at home (homeschooling her three children), as a professional (owning and operating a Piano School), and in church contexts (teaching children and teens for more than 25 years).
Fun fact: Jody, as a teenager, had a chicken dinner with the late singer/songwriter Rich Mullins (Awesome God).
Ask her about it sometime!
