Mt. Zion United Methodist Church (Church Staff)

Prior to his appointment to Cornelius, Rev. Bailey served as the senior minister of the American Protestant Church of The Rev. Michael Bailey Hague in The Netherlands. There, his congregation was composed of persons from 54 different nations and included a number of people involved in diplomacy, global justice, the United Nations and other agencies. Rev. Bailey was privileged to participate in several outstanding international events in The Hague including: President Nelson Mandela of South Africa honorary degree reception at Leiden University, President Jimmy Carter's "gratitude visit" to The Netherlands, worship with Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, the United Nations Bio-tech Conference as well as numerous events with visiting ambassadors, US senators and representatives.

Locally, Rev. Bailey serves on: the Board of Directors for the Lake Norman YMCA, as an officer with the North Mecklenburg Rotary International Club, on the Board of Directors of the United Way as well as other agencies and organizations.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Lambuth University and then did 4 years of graduate study at Vanderbilt University. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.

Prior to his appointment to Cornelius, Rev. Reimer was a full time student at Duke Divinity School. Rev. Tim Reimer During his years there he was fortunate to take part in two wonderful field education experiences. The first was a summer spent as a missionary in Lithuania working with the Methodist Church in the areas of humanitarian aid to the poor, children's ministry, prison ministry, and preaching and leading services. The second experience was spent doing CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. That summer he was a chaplain assigned to different floors of the hospital.

Prior to living in North Carolina, Rev. Reimer grew up in Green Bay WI and was a member at First United Methodist Church-Green Bay, part of the Wisconsin Conference. During his time in Wisconsin, he was a youth volunteer at his church and led mission teams to Lithuania to their partner church. He married a local girl, Katie (Faucette) from Davidson, NC while a student at Duke in 2005 and joined the Western North Carolina Conference. He does remain a dedicated Green Bay Packers fan, however.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX in 2002. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School in 2006.

Jill is working as a part-time associate minister. She has had an assortment of experiences prior to beginning Jill Smith in ministry in 2000. She has worked as a waitress, in a pet-store, as property manager for her church, and as a secretary, but for the longest amount of time for a interdenominational missionary sending organization "S.I.M. - Serving in Missions" as an Assistant to the Director of International Personnel, and for many years part-time as the "Survey Coordinator."

Over the years Jill has been involved in Community Action programs in homeless issues in the Boston area, was a volunteer for a Rape Crisis Intervention Center in New Hampshire, served as chairperson of the Dilworth Child Development Center Board in Charlotte. Currently she is the Assistant Spiritual Director for the Chrysalis Community, and is active in parent involvement at Hopewell High School.

Jill received her bachelor's degree in Sociology form Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts in 1982 and her Masters of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina in 2000.

Jill and her husband Wayne were married in 1981 and have lived in N.H., Me., Ma., N.C., and Va. They have two sons, Jamie graduating from High School in '05, and Bryan who will enter High School in the fall of '05. Their two dogs are also a special part of the family.

Marcy is responsible for the music ministry program at Mount Zion. Prior to coming to Mount Zion, Marcy was Marcy Mittelstadt Director of Worship Arts and Programming at Saint Luke's United Methodist in Memphis Tennessee. She has extensive experience in higher education in vocal and choral music and in academic administration.

Dr. Mittelstadt has a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University in Appleton WI., a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Doctor of Musical Arts in vocal performance and sacred music from the University of Memphis.

Marcy has been active in Memphis Conference district music events, adjudication for solo and ensemble competitions in Wisconsin and Tennessee and in PEO.

Mark Graham is the Contemporary Music Director. Mark Graham picture Mark has been a member of the Praise & Worship Team here at Mt. Zion since February of 2006, and accepted the call to step forward and lead the team in July of 2007. He moved from Birmingham, Alabama in 2005 as a result of the Wachovia/SouthTrust Bank merger, where he was active in a variety of music ministries. In addition to playing saxophone and singing at his home church of Elliottsville Cumberland Presbyterian, he was also a member of E-MAN-U-L, a gospel jazz quartet, which performed at various events and functions for churches in the area. There were opportunities for studio recordings with local Christian artists as well.

Mark is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, where he received his Bachelors degree in Music Education. He was a band director for four years in his hometown of Gallatin, Tennessee, before he made a career change to computer programming, and relocated to Birmingham.

Mark and his wife Angela married in 1993. They have two daughters, Amelia and Lillian, and live in Cornelius with their three dogs, three cats, and four fish.

Sherry is responsible for Sunday School classes for children, youth and adults with an emphasis in children's ministries. Sherry Washam Sherry has served as the Christian educator of Mt. Zion for the past twenty-six years. For the first twenty years her primary focus was youth ministries. During the past four years she has focused on developing the Workshop Rotation Model with children in elementary Sunday School classes. Prior to coming to Mt. Zion, Sherry taught elementary children for six years in both Gaston County and Charlotte Mecklenburg School systems.

She is a member of the National Christian Educators Fellowship and the Western North Carolina Conference Christian Educators Fellowship of the United Methodist Church. Locally, she initiated a prayer/ support lunch group for Christian educators. She serves as a tutor for children of Latino background as a member of Amigos de Cristo.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

During college Matt served one summer in Cape Hatteras, NC with the "Summershine" Ministry, which provides a Christian Matt Sherrill staff to several campgrounds on the East (and now West) Coast. He then served two summers as a counselor and then Adventure Leader (internship) at the Lake Norman YMCA in Cornelius, NC. Matt had the privilege to work for the American Camping Association Southeastern Section office in Boone, NC during his last year at Appalachian State University. After his senior year, he served at United Methodist Camp Tekoa in Hendersonville, NC as the Rock Climbing and Mountain Biking Resource.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Management at Appalachian State University. Matt received his Masters in Christian Education with a Specialization in Youth Ministries from Pfeiffer University.

Becky Metzger is the Director of Sonshine Preschool, a weekday ministry of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. Before coming to Sonshine Preschool, she was a teacher in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District for 5 years. She worked for two years as the Operations Manager of Carter and Associates ONCOR also in Winston-Salem. She volunteered as the Assistant Coordinator for Community Bible Study. Ms. Becky also taught preschool at Sonshine Preschool before accepting the Director’s position in 2008.

Margaret Langston is Treasurer and Office Manager of Mt Zion United Methodist Church, having served as Treasurer since 2004 and as Office Manager since 2000. Prior to moving to the area in 1992, Margaret lived in Greensboro and held the position of Systems Support Manager for Retail Data Solutions, Inc. After moving to Huntersville, she worked at a local private school as a pre-K teacher, and then as Director for five years.

Margaret has been working at Mt Zion United Methodist Church since 1998 and enjoys teaching a children's Sunday School class and volunteering at an assisted living center.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development & Family Relations with K-3 certification from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is currently pursuing Church Business Administrator Certification.