Pastor Kevin McKenzie

Kevin McKenzie is a Brooklynite from head to toe, even in Savannah, GA. Kevin moved to Florida in Jr. High and went on to attend The Florida A&M University, where he experienced a radical encounter with Jesus Christ. Once he began his relationship with Jesus, the Lord put a fire inside of Kevin to share the Gospel and to see others completely changed by Jesus. He not only desired to see people come to the faith, he desired to see communities transformed by the Gospel, especially neighborhoods that were stricken with poverty, drugs and violence, like the one he grew up in. He co-started a bible study at Florida A&M which grew to become a church and in 2010, Kevin relocated to Boston, where he helped start Aletheia Church. In 2011, Kevin married his college sweetheart, Kelsey, and together they started their marriage in Boston. 

While at Aletheia, Kevin served as the Youth Director and Campus Missionary, serving at MIT and NorthEastern University. His favorite parts of his job were volunteering at the local middle school and praying with college students as they navigated challenges. Kevin and Kelsey also had four wonderful children while in Boston: Brooklyn, Quinn, Adelyn and Ezra. While in Boston, Kevin still carried his dream of seeing communities radically changed and over time, the Lord made it clear that he was calling Kevin out of campus ministry to be a church planter. In 2021, the McKenzies moved their family to Savannah to begin the next chapter in their life. While Kevin was sad to leave the North behind, he was excited to see what the Lord was going to do through Rise Up Church in Savannah. Shortly after moving to Savannah, the McKenzies added one more to their family, baby Devyn.

Kevin holds a B.S in Molecular and Cellular Biology from The Florida A&M University and a M.A in Medical Sciences with a concentration in Oral Health from Boston University School of Medicine. He attended the Every Nation School of Campus Ministry and went through the Every Nation’s church planting assessment.