Faith

A Match Made in Heaven-Husband and Wife Team Up as Simpsonwood UMC Co-Pastors

Published

2 years ago

December 13, 2021

Kelsey Asher

Photos by Tracey Rice

Some people might find working in a professional setting with their spouse a challenge, but for the two new co-pastors at Simpsonwood United Methodist Church, ministry is the family business that suits them just fine.

David and Susan Allen Grady assumed their leadership roles at Simpsonwood on July 6, and since then they have kept rather busy getting to know their faith community. Both pastors are first career clergy that have worked separately in several church management roles in different places. Most of their ministries have been in Intown Atlanta communities around Dekalb county, as well as churches in Cobb and Fulton Counties.

For a bit of background, the pair met during seminary at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. David spent some time in the United Kingdom then went back home to Alabama, and later his marriage to Susan led them back to the Atlanta area. Since then, he has lived and worked throughout different parts of Georgia, serving congregations of various sizes in Roswell and the Chamblee/Tucker areas, to name a few.

Then the bishop surprisingly called both David and Susan to Peachtree Corners.

The family business

Susan grew up as a pastor’s kid in Georgia, so she said, “we kind of jokingly say it’s like our family business.” And the cycle continues as the couple have a daughter in 7th grade at Pinckneyville Middle School. It’s an unexpected perk of the job that with both parents working at the church, the whole family can spend Sunday mornings together in the same place.

In the unique position of serving together in the same church body for the first time, David and Susan remark on the blessings that the arrangement offers for them personally and for Simpsonwood.

“We are different. We have different gifts, different interests and different skills. We know each other well after being married for years, so it’s a blessing to see each other really shining and doing the things that we are both gifted for and love, supporting each other in that,” Susan said.

“And also, having that person that is your equal teammate to bounce ideas off of and to get advice from, to check in with when we’re doing new things, those are some real blessings that we deeply value.”

David had this to say in addition to Susan’s thoughts. “And I think another blessing for our congregation and our life is that we get to model leadership a little bit differently, in kind of a shared model leadership. I think the other piece to this is that one of the things we might be learning is that Peachtree Corners is maybe at the front edge of a generational turning over,” he said. “So we can, in our work, model ways of being professional, model ways of being in relationships, and model what is healthy and what healthy behavior looks like for life together.”

In their short time here in Peachtree Corners, David and Susan have noticed that this is a town with a strong sense of identity and community-mindedness. “This is a destination for people, even more than just the next community over, as in ‘I want to move to the next community over’ for whatever reason. But Peachtree Corners is a place people are choosing specifically and there is a sense of identity in that also.”

“It doesn’t feel like a stereotypical suburb because you see people that you know when you go places. This is a community that people are investing themselves in, rather than just a ‘bedroom’ community.”

Holiday events, traditional and new

As the holiday season approaches, there is a palpable sense of anticipation for the extraordinary events that will take place at Simpsonwood UMC. The locally famous Walk Through Bethlehem returns December 10-12 in its more traditional form, as opposed to last year’s movie experience that was incorporated into the online Christmas Eve service.

“We are excited to offer a Christmas Eve service that is more what people are used to,” David said.

Additionally, a brand-new Traveler’s Christmas Eve service will also be available on December 19, in addition to the standard service times, to accommodate churchgoers that may be out of town at Christmastime.

So David and Susan will have ample opportunity to meet and greet with much of their community, and they will continue to dedicate themselves to getting to know what makes Simpsonwood tick.

“When we are new in a church, we spend, really, a full year — but definitely the first six month or so — really getting to know the place and the community,” Susan said. “We are excited to see what the Christmas traditions are, those in Peachtree Corners and Simpsonwood, and bring our own ideas, like the Travel’s Christmas service,” Susan said.

For more information on David, Susan and Simpsonwood UMC, please visit simpsonwoodumc.org.

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Kelsey Asher

Kelsey Asher is a proud graduate of the University of West Georgia with a Bachelor’s in Communications. She has held a variety of marketing leadership roles for several small, startup companies in a variety of industries including publishing, construction and technology.

Faith

Georgia United Methodist Foundation Announces Changes to Finance Team

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

he Georgia United Methodist Foundation announced that Carol Johnston will succeed Russell Jones as SVP, CFO and treasurer.

The Georgia United Methodist Foundation announced Carol Johnston as its senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Johnston, who currently serves as associate vice president and controller for the Foundation, will succeed Russell Jones upon his retirement on June 30, 2024.

The Foundation is working to fill the controller position and further enhance its financial expertise.

Johnston will assume responsibilities currently held by Jones on July 1, 2024. In addition to 13 years of experience as the Foundation’s associate vice president and controller, Johnston is a former CPA and brings more than 35 years of experience in non-profit work and a distinguished background in banking to the CFO role.

As tenured members of the Foundation’s finance team, Johnston and Jones have worked together for more than a decade. As of April 1, the Foundation has 234.7 million dollars under management due in large part to the partnership between Jones and Johnston.

“Russell Jones has served as the financial backbone of the Foundation for 25 years. He has shared his financial talent and business acumen as a steadfast leader of the Foundation. His deep knowledge of software, systems, and financial instruments has served the Foundation well during his tenure. He has helped shepherd the Foundation through many significant changes and his counsel will be greatly missed.” Katrina Voegtlin, Chairperson of the GUMF Audit/Finance Committee.

Under Jones’ leadership, the Foundation introduced its loan program which currently has over 42 million in loans throughout the state of Georgia.

“In addition to 25 years with the Foundation, Russell served seven years as assistant treasurer of the NGA Conference.

“We hope that they will enjoy may years together in the North Georgia mountains!” said Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Coppedge-Henley, President and CEO of the Foundation.

For more information about the Georgia United Methodist Foundation, contact Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Coppedge-Henley at elizabethch@gumf.org.

Community

Changes at Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries Help Further Community Mission

Published

2 months ago

February 18, 2024

Arlinda Smith Broady

Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries vegetable truck

Neighborhoo d Cooperative Ministries has been battling poverty, food insecurity and homelessness, among other crisis events, in southwest Gwinnett, for 27 years. In total, NCM served more than 25,000 individuals in 2023, through direct support and personal empowerment programs.

Over time, the county’s demographics have changed, meaning the organization has needed to adapt to serve the community.

Families now face long-term needs due to fixed incomes, homelessness, abuse, language barriers, single-parent homes and many other circumstances, according to the NCM website.

NCM now serves 50 to 70 families each day from a 12,000-square-foot facility. In addition to a food pantry, NCM offers job readiness classes, on-site hiring events, money management courses and regular health fairs.

A new course of leadership

Perhaps one of the biggest changes took effect this January. After almost 30 years of service to NCM, Executive Director Shirley Cabe will now give her primary focus to what she loves the most, the organization’s clients.

Cabe has been with NCM since its inception and has helped grow the organization tremendously as needs in this service area have drastically changed.

NCM’s Board of Directors supported Cabe’s request and developed a new role specifically for her. She will now serve as Director of Client Operations, allowing her to use her exceptional gifts and talents to serve those in need.

Additionally, Cabe will lead the expansion of the food program as refrigerated products will be added to client food offerings. Healthier food options such as protein, produce, reclaimed food and more will also be added.

“Healthier intake directly correlates to improved health and more productivity,” said Cabe in a news release. “This new initiative is huge for the clients we serve. We want to positively contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty. I am excited about the opportunities ahead for NCM and grateful to transition into this new role, focusing on more impactful service to our clients.”

With Cabe’s new role, former Director of Community Relations Ryan Jones will take over as Executive Director.

Jones has been with NCM for three years. Under Jones’ leadership, the organization held its most successful fundraising event to date, bringing in over $519,000 to continue its mission of making a difference one family at a time.

“Building out our team and people is the next step in the process,” said Jones. The big thing with the staffing change is just honoring Shirley and her years at this organization and allowing her to serve people, which is the heartbeat of our organization; that’s how she best serves–interacting with our clients in our community.”

Cabe’s larger role in the food program will help keep it running smoothly, he added.

There is already an established pickup schedule from Publix and the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Jones explained that about 40% of food in the United States is wasted.

With new resources in place to access surpluses from supermarkets, restaurants, distributors, farmers and more, NCM can put a sizeable dent in southwest Gwinnett county’s share of the waste.

“We hope to use food as a resource, as we have more touch points with families that we see. So, as things come up in their lives, they’re seeing us more often, and we can step in when unexpected emergencies happen and try to address kind of the issues that have brought them to us in the first place,” Jones explained. “And with that comes just a lot more work.”

Dedicated board members

Les Harper, who succeeded Elizabeth Gross, has taken over as chairman of the board of directors to help with the vision for that work.

“My wife and I have been involved with Neighborhood Coop for a long time, volunteered through the church, and supported financially through the church over the years,” said Harper.

When I retired from working a couple of years ago and was looking for opportunities to give back to the community … one thing led to another, and I had the opportunity to join the board,” he added. “I started on the board a couple of years ago, and then last year, I was asked if I would consider stepping into the board chair role [this year], which I was excited to do.”

Harper’s experience on the board and working closely with Gross for an entire year allowed him to step in almost seamlessly into the new position.

“Elizabeth and I had a chance to work together in some leadership roles at church over the years. So, we have chaired and co-chaired a number of things over the years,” he said.

“For the past 12 months, she’s been great at including me in everything and making sure that I was up to speed on everything, fully involved, and ready to go,” he said.

Anyone involved in large-scale non-profit activities appreciates the time, energy, and resources that go into community organizing. To be good stewards of community trust, funds and well-being, NCM has focused on making operations run smoothly.

“NCM is definitely a feet-washing ministry, especially with the food. … A lot of times it’s heavy, and it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s well worth it,” Jones said. “I’m moving from strictly fundraising to overseeing all aspects of the organization and strategic oversight of all the initiatives that we have going on. … I was born in Gwinnett County. “So, really, the big reasons that I left my corporate job to come to NCM is how impressed I was with the board and the staff when I met them before coming on and the fact that it serves an area where I grew up that has a lot of need,” he commented.

Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries
500 Pinnacle Ct
Norcross, GA 30071
www.ourncm.org
770-263-8268

Catch more non-profit news here!

Faith

Rev. Fr. Edgar Otero Joins Christ Church Episcopal in Norcross

Published

4 months ago

January 3, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

Rev. Fr. Edgar Otero

Christ Church Episcopal, off Holcomb Bridge Rd in Norcross, is pleased to announce that Rev. Fr. Edgar Otero will be joining the parish beginning January 3, 2024.

Father Edgar was born in Puerto Rico and relocated to the mainland 23 years ago. He is married to Marycelis and has two children, Eliam Manuel, age 17 and Edgar Ezekiel, age 14.

Father Edgar has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He also attended Mount St. Mary’s University and Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, and St. Vincent College and Seminary in Latrobe, PA, where he studied at a master’s level in Roman Catholic theology.

Father Edgar graduated with honors, acquiring a master’s in divinity with a certificate in Anglican/Episcopal Studies from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.

Father Edgar served on the Vestry of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, his home parish, as a seminarian at Grace Episcopal Church for four years, as a teacher and Chaplain at St. Benedict’s Episcopal School and as a Priest-In-Charge of St. Anthony’s Episcopal Church in Winder, GA.