Cedar Creek Community Church is stepping into a new season that feels both tender and hopeful. After twenty-six years in Aiken, Pastor Phillip Lee is preparing to retire and pass the baton to newcomer Pastor Mike McKee. Phillip and his wife, Terry, have walked with Cedar Creek through decades of ministry and life, and now they are welcoming Mike, his wife, Ashley, and their three children into a story still being written.
Pastor Phillip shared that he wanted to be intentional in this handoff, welcoming Pastor Mike the same way Pastor Swift welcomed him years ago. That mindset shaped every step. Phillip and Terry gathered three couples from the church to help plan the transition and set a clear process for searching for the next senior pastor. Pastor Mike interviewed with the team and the elders, and the congregation was invited to vote. For a season, both pastors will overlap so the transition feels steady and God-honoring.
When Pastor Phillip and Terry look back on their time at Cedar Creek, they talk about more than ministry milestones. They talk about moments that only a church family can hold. Their children’s baptisms happened here. Weddings were celebrated here. Even their son’s funeral was marked by a community that stepped up, surrounded them with love and carried them through grief when words were not enough. Those memories are part of why Phillip and Terry have always worked to create an environment that welcomes everyone.
Pastor Phillip came to Aiken in 1999 and joined Cedar Creek when the church was growing into its identity. He was hired as the first pastoral staff member, brought in to build small groups and develop leaders. Over the next eight years, God led him into the senior pastor role, and Pastor Swift affirmed that it was God’s plan. Through seasons of growth and change, Pastor Phillip and Terry have held a steady heartbeat, being a place where people can belong, where Jesus is accessible, and where a biblical community learns to live through mission.
That same heartbeat is what drew Pastor Mike to Cedar Creek, a church planted more than thirty-two years ago with a vision for mission and discipleship. Pastor Mike is originally from North Carolina, born in Winston Salem and raised in a home shaped by ministry. He graduated high school in Arden, North Carolina, earned a communications degree from the University of North Carolina and completed a Master of Divinity at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest. Pastor Mike preached throughout North Carolina and led Bible studies for coaches at his alma mater. During that time he also served at The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area for five years and helped start the Chapel Hill campus.
Nine years ago, Pastor Mike and his wife, Ashley, were sent out from Summit Church to start a new church in Marietta, Georgia, bringing with them twenty-eight adults and four kids. What started as a new work became a healthy, gospel-centered church reaching the next generation. Now, Pastor Mike and Ashley, along with their children, Adalyn Grace, Braxton and Cole, are following the Lord’s path to Aiken.
One connection was deeply personal. Pastor Mike’s middle son Braxton has special needs, and Cedar Creek’s special needs support struck a chord. Phillip, Terry, Mike and Ashley all point to Jesus’ command to care for the least of these, and Cedar Creek has built a reputation for showing up with compassion and help. The church is also focused on supporting those navigating mental health challenges by meeting people with dignity, hope and real community.
Pastor Mike says he is most excited to build on a faithful legacy, not replace it. He wants Cedar Creek to keep reaching those who are not yet believers, to keep loving the next generation and to keep living on mission. He talks about a hunger for Scripture: knowing and loving Jesus through reading the Bible line by line and verse by verse and being grounded in the gospel that saves and sanctifies. As Pastor Phillip and Terry step toward retirement, they look ahead with hope to what God has in store for them, their church family and all who will one day find belonging at Cedar Creek.
Cedar Creek Church
3001 Banks Mill Road
Aiken, SC 29803
Sunday Service Times: 9:00am & 11:00am
cedarcreekchurch.net