Reverend Tac Coley our senior pastor, comes
to us from Stripling Chapel UMC in Carrollton, GA where he
served as senior pastor for the past six years. On August 28,
1958 in Albemarle, NC, Paul and Clara Coley welcomed a second
bouncing baby boy into their family calling him Timmy Alec Coley
- Tac for short. With his older brother Don, Tac grew up in
rural Stanley County NC graduating from high school in 1975. He
went on to Tech School studying Animal Husbandry earning an A.I.
Certificate. Hard work was not a stranger to Tac or his family,
his parents worked in the textile mills, his brother as an
electrician and Tac as a dairy herdsman for Sunnybrook Farms.
Tac was married on May 31, 1980 to Sharon Linville Coley (now
Reverend Sharon Coley of the Burts and Glade UMC of the
Oglethorpe Circuit). Tac and Sharon have two grown children
(Paul and Samantha) and three grandchildren who still live in
the Rome GA area.
After 22 years of cow punching, the Lord called Tac from herding
cattle to tending His sheep. Tac returned to school where he
received his Bachelor of Art in Religion from Berry College and
went on to the Candler School of Theology at Emory University
earning his Master of Divinity degree. He declared his
Ministerial Candidacy in 1992 in the Western North Carolina
Conference of the UMC and transferred to the North Georgia
Conference in 1995. Tac was commissioned to Probationary Elder
in 2001 and Ordained Elder in Full Connection in 2004.
Tac describes his preaching style as storytelling. He will often
retell Bible stories with both modern day and personal stories.
An out-going fellow, Tac loves people and always looks for ways
to encourage everyone to actively follow the calling of God in
their lives. Tac feels that by interpreting the scriptures by
storytelling can help us understand what God's purpose is in our
lives.
When not in the pulpit or doing his visitations, Tac will be in
the woods hoping to bag a buck or in a boat trying to reel in
the big one. He enjoys his communes with nature and feels this
respite with nature brings him close to God. Tac also likes to
read, and often while waiting in a blind or up a tree for that
certain deer to come by as well as in the boat waiting for that
bite, he'll settle down with a good book.
Tac's door is always open to his congregation and to anyone else
who needs to talk, pray or help in finding their way to
salvation
Kristy Smith has been married almost 20
years to her husband Wesley and have two boys, Matthew, 16
and Benjamin, 13. They live in Oglethorpe County and are members
of Cloud's Creek Baptist Church. Kristy has been working at
Winterville UMC for just over two years and knows this is where God wants her to
be at this time in her life.
Tom Bouknecht was born April 27th, 1949 in Troy, Ohio.
At the age of 3, his family moved to St. Petersburg, FL, where he was
raised. He graduated from Boca Ciega High School in 1967. He
earned his BME degree from St. Leo College in Florida in 1971, with a
double major in voice and piano.
In 1971, after graduation, he enlisted in the US Army and
was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield/Fort Stewart with the 80th Army and
then the 94th Infantry Division Band.
After he was discharged, he took a job with the Baldwin
Piano and Organ Company in Athens, Georgia and worked with Consolidate
Freight and Watkins Moto Lines until starting with the US Postal Service
in 1987. Presently, he is Postmaster at Stephens, GA.
He has served as Music Director at several United Methodist
Churches; Grace in Savannah, 1st in Watkinsville and now here at
Winterville.
Tom has 5 children and 2 grandchildren and lives with his
wife, Angela, and 2 children, Mallory and T.J. in Lexington.
Born on September
15th, 1964 in Charlotte, NC, Bradley Clodfelter comes to us as
our Youth Minister. One of three brothers and a sister,
His father is a United Methodist Pastor and mother a Certified
Nursing Assistant. Until attending Young Harris College in
2003, Bradley lived in North Carolina most of his life.
Currently he
resides with his wife in Athens, GA. Bradley has worked
with youth at Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters and Eagle Ranch
Children's Home. He has a passion for the outdoors and for
seeing youth grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Bradley has graduated from Andrews High School in Andrews in
North Carolina and plans to pursue a four year degree.
Sherry Bankston was born and raised in Winterville, GA and
is married to
Mr. Edd Arnold. She is the mother of one son, Bruce Bankston and has
a granddaughter, Jasymine Bankston. She has been associated with
Tuckston United Methodist Church for about 15 years. Her mother, Mrs.
Elnora Strong, who passed away in 1996 was the original custodian of the
church. Since Sherry was helping her, when her mother passed away,
Sherry carried on
in her place.
The Cross and Flame is a registered trademark
and the use is supervised by the General Council on Finance and Administration
of The United Methodist Church. Permission to use the Cross and Flame
must be obtained from the General Council on Finance and Administration
of The United Methodist Church - Legal Department, 1200 Davis Street,
Evanston, IL 60201.
Tom Bouknecht was born April 27th, 1949 in Troy, Ohio.
At the age of 3, his family moved to St. Petersburg, FL, where he was
raised. He graduated from Boca Ciega High School in 1967. He
earned his BME degree from St. Leo College in Florida in 1971, with a
double major in voice and piano.
Winterville, Georgia 30683