Reidville Road United Methodist Church

I have described my and Martha's history of faith as "Christian mutts." I was raised in a conventional Lutheran Church in Detroit, and Martha in a small denomination in northern Michigan called Apostolic Lutheran, which is similar to a holiness church, in which my mother had also been raised. Shortly after our marriage my home church lost its way, mostly abandoning Jesus for a social gospel. We began a church search with a move to Marshall, Mich. That led us to a Methodist church part of the time.

After having subsequently moved to the Upper Peninsula, to Martha's home, God led us to a more open branch of her church. It was "hile attending there that God called us to the ministry. As an 11 year old I had sensed the call of God to be a pastor but I had no idea what to do, even though it was confirmed to me by the comments of three members of my church. Now, at age 30, God prophetically called and it was again confirmed by three people in our new church. When we have had such prophecies or leadings of the Spirit we have always prayed, given it back to God affirmatively, and waited for Him to produce it. In a very short time our pastor asked me to a lead in the church service, which led to being a fill in speaker in sister churches around the area, and finally the call to our first pastorate, a small country church.

My training came from three areas; first a two year confirmation class that I devoured, especially the year of study of the Old testament; secondly after the call at age 30, God moved in the heart of a pastor who was helping us build an assisted living home, for which I became the administrator. Pastor Rod sensed God telling him to give me "all the time I needed as He (God) was preparing me for ministry." For two years, on Mondays, his day off, he gave me from one to six hours of one-on-one teaching, questioning, challenges, and great fellowship. Later he became our pastor and our friendship continued until his passing last year. Third, I have made it a practice to study the Bible daily for nearly 50 years.

To sum this up God had us pastor for 11 years in the U.P., the last 5 and a half in a Pentecostal church, before moving us to South Carolina where we pastored for another 11 years in a non-denominational church. Add up all the churches and our 14 years involvement in Charismatic renewal conferences, and you see the diverse background.

In addition to the ministry I have administered assisted living homes for 26 years, 11 of which while I was also pastoring the U.P. Churches.

Martha and I strongly believe in the prophetic work of the Holy Spirit and of the application of it in the life of the church today.

Linda Crowder has been the administrative assistant at RRUMC since 1999.  Linda is orginially from Indiana.  Linda & her family moved to South Carolina in June 1995.  Linda enjoys vacationing with family & friends, playing with her grandson Bretton, puzzling & reading.

Christy Snow has been on staff as the Children and Youth Director with Reidville Road UMC since 2016. Christy is originally from Homer, Louisiana and has lived in South Carolina since 1994. She is married to Bryan and they have three amazing daughters Haleigh, Katie and Addie. Christy has worked in Children and Youth Ministry for over 10 years. When not at church she loves reading, watching her girls play lacrosse, crying in sappy movies, and making memories with her family.

Heidi Gomez has been the Music Director at Reidville Rd. UMC since 2007.  She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Central Michigan University with a focus on organ performance.  Heidi also teaches piano lessons  and does music classes for  the preschool children at the Readiness Center.  She moved from Michigan to South Carolina in 2006 and lives in Spartanburg with her husband, Carlos and their daughter, Scarlet and two dogs.  When she’s not involved with church and music, she enjoys reading, gardening and cooking.  

Dr. Scott Smith serves as the Contemporary Worship Leader for RRUMC.  Scott's 'other' job is serving as the Director of Accountability, Research and STEM Programs for Spartanburg School District Five.  Originally from Camden, SC, Scott began playing with music team for SC United Methodist Youth events while in middle school.  Through the years, he performed at events including the Springmaid Beach youth retreats and Youth Annual Conference, among others.  During this time, the music team recorded two albums.  Scott also served as a Dean for the SC Conference Youth Choir for many years, and worked as a lead with the Batesburg-Leesville Salkehatchie camp.  Prior to moving to the Duncan area, Scott served as the Contemporary Worship Leader at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church in Greenville.  Smith resides in Duncan with his wife, Liz and children Molly and Mason.

Loyd Dennis has been the Handbell Director at Reidville Road UMC since 1998. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Special Education with a minor in music from Converse College. She has a Masters degree in Technology in Education from Leslie University. Loyd has been directing handbells since 1984. She was the handbell director at St. Paul UMC and Trinity UMC before coming to Reidville Road. She also directed the children’s choir at St. Paul. She also sings in the adult choir. Loyd is from North Carolina originally but has been in South Carolina since 1976. Her husband and daughter also play the handbells. When Loyd is not at church or teaching at Byrnes High School, she likes to sew, do crafts, camp, and read.

Meredith Stephenson is one of the youth leaders. She graduated from Appalachian State University in 2014 with a degree in Elementary Education and is currently pursuing her Masters in counseling with a concentration in school counseling from Wake Forest University. In addition to helping with the youth she is a second grade teacher at Woodruff Primary School in Spartanburg District Four. She enjoys spending time with family, friends and shopping.

Originally from Chester, SC, Kathryn moved to Spartanburg in 1993 with her husband Bob.  She has a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Carolina.  She has been at RRRC since 1996 where she began as a 4K Teacher and became Director in 2001.  She has enjoyed this special ministry which allows her to reach children and families for Christ.  When not working, Kathryn emjoys spending time with her family.  She and Bob have two sons, Andrew and Nick.  Her late mother-in-law was the founding pastor of Reidville Road UMC.