Pastor Al Beck  This summer, a new pastor was appointed to lead the congregation of First United Methodist Church of Murphy and in early July, the Beck family came to be among us as our pastoral family.  And if you have not yet had a chance to get to know them personally, here’s a bit of an introduction to get you started.  Pastor Al & Katarina have been married and in ministry together for almost 25 years.  Al grew up on a small farm in old Florida, one of seven children.  He came to faith at age ten in a country Methodist Church and felt a call to preach from early on.  He was a small business owner before entering the pastoral ministry.

Suzanne West  Suzanne is our music minister. She leads 13 choirs in our church as well as the newly-formed drama group and community handbell group. She is also the pianist for Mountain Community Chorus and Peacock Playhouse as well as for several of our local high schools during competitions.

Julie Baker  Julie has been our Office Administrator for nearly 9 years now. She brings to our office a banking and business background and wide knowledge base. She is also very active in several ministries outside the office, including handbells, youth, and children's ministries.

Tim Lee  Tim is our Youth and Childrens pastor.  Tim and his wife Jackie, their two sons Andy and Philip and daughter Abby come to us from Taylorsville, North Carolina where Tim was serving First United Methodist as the Director of Christian Education for Children and Youth.  Tim felt a call to ministry shortly after being married.  He has a degree from Gardner-Webb University in Religious Education and over 10 years of experience with youth and childrens ministry.  His other work experience comes from Chuck E. Cheese where he worked as a manager for several years.

Kevin Crouch  Kevin is our "sound guy" who gets us out over the airwaves and internet on Sundays. He also sets up all the sound equipment for each service and special events.  He works with Suzanne for choirs and special music performances not only for sound but also lighting.  Erik Brinke and Bill Vespasain often assists Kevin and works in his place when Kevin is away.

Jean Parker  Jean, along with her husband John, are our custodians. They have been with us quite a number of years now and ensure that our facilities are ready for use. Considering how well-used our facilities are, they have quite a task each week.