Episode Twelve: Rethinking the Church Building

The church is not the building! And yet, many communities of faith find themselves navigating the burdens and celebrating the gifts of caring for sacred spaces. In this episode, we’re in conversation with church leaders who are learning to use their church buildings in new ways as an asset in their ministry. We’ll also learn about new resources available to churches within our conference so that they too can explore how to leverage their building for ministry.

Episode 12 Transcript

Episode 12 Resources

Once you've listened to the episode, register HERE for Faith and Innovation's upcoming webinar on "Rethinking the Church Building." Here, the members will be sharing a new resource for local churches in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference.

Episode Twelve Guests

Rev. James Cole

James was born in West Virginia and grew up in Dayton, Ohio. James came to Nashville in the summer of 1986 and has been in Middle Tennessee ever since.

He received his Masters in Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1991 and began serving Churches in the Tennessee Conference that same year. James and Sharon Reddick were married in 1993. Sharon is an Assistant District Attorney in Rutherford County and prosecutes in the Child Abuse Division of the D.A.’s office. They have one son, Jack, who is 22 and a lives and works in Chicago.

James likes to play music, sing, travel, spend time with family and read. He’s also been going on Volunteer in Mission trips to Central America—particularly Guatemala—for a decade and is on a slow but steady quest to learn Spanish.

Rev. Brian Marcoulier

Brian arrived at Calvary UMC in July 2023. Brian is an ordained elder within the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Before arriving at Calvary, Brian served as the Lead Pastor of Bellevue United Methodist on the west side of Nashville, fostering numerous community partnerships across faith, non-profit, and government agencies. He has served seven United Methodist congregations throughout the last 20+ years in ministry. Brian is a graduate of Martin Methodist College and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Brian and his wife, Nikki, and daughter, Charlotte, love camping and putt-putt golf. Brian finds incredible joy in meaningful, deep conversations, and feels most free when he is cycling! He even has a bicycle in his office!

Tommye Windsor-Cummings

Tommye Windsor-Cummings is the Family Ministries Director at Colonial Park United Methodist Church. In short, she helps to lead all of the tiny humans and the people who care for the tiny humans. Tommye is a mom of two spunky children who felt called not only to help lead kids and youth but also to work within the community she was already a part of. In her last couple of years at Colonial Park, she has seen growth in the kids and youth that she leads and in the community involvement within the church. Tommye has personally witnessed church buildings fail and fully believes in the power of the Memphis community coming together under one roof and operating to serve a greater purpose.