Spanish

STAFF AND LAY LEADERSHIP

Our Staff

The Rev. Dr. Jordan Thrasher

Senior
Pastor

Laura Briscoe

Director of
Church Operations

Lori Cora

Finance
Administrator

Dottie Hunt

Director of
Music Ministries

Linda Jimenez-Abrams

Director of Children's and
Community Ministries

Cassie Ruiz

Director of
Student Ministries

Stephanie Train

Embry Hills Preschool and
Kindergarten Director

Our Lay Leadership

Lance Waller 
Chair of Leadership Team and SPRC
lance.waller.nm@gmail.com

Richard Blackwell
Finance

Judy Campbell
Annual Conference Representative

Matt Carter
Liaison to Preschool, External Schools

Pete Eisemann
Treasurer

Rachel Fullerton
Nurture/Discipleship/Programming

John Hepler
Serve

Lisa Jones
Communications

Paul Jones
Annual Conference Representative Alternate

Jim McGarrah
Trustees

Andy Strain
Scouts/Community Groups/Lay Leader

Upcoming Leadership Team Meetings

Sundays at 12:15 pm
October 20th, November 10th, December 8th

The Rev. Dr. Jordan Thrasher

Pastor
Jordan is honored to be the senior pastor of Embry Hills United Methodist Church since July 2021. Jordan grew up in Athens, went to Wofford College for undergrad where he majored in History and Religion, and then continued to the Candler School of Theology for both his Masters of Divinity and Doctorate of Ministry. Jordan is married to Meredith, and they have three wonderful daughters, Georgia, Elizabeth, and Anna; and two mischievous dogs Bailey and Lucy, though sometimes the adjectives are reversed. Jordan enjoys being active, playing sports, and getting to know new people whenever he gets the chance. You can catch Jordan running, kayaking, cooking, and cheering on Atlanta United.

Laura Briscoe

Director of Church Operations
Laura joined the staff of Embry Hills in April 2017. Raised between Texas and Georgia, she now lives in Tucker with her husband, Jimmy, their two children, Ashton and Sam, and horde of rescued cats. She’s spent 15 years working in different churches within the Atlanta area and has grown to love the ever-changing pace of United Methodist churches. When not working, she can be found hanging out with family and friends, working as a freelance makeup artist, reading, listening to true-crime podcasts, or hiking, foraging, and camping with her family.

Lori Cora

Finance Admininstrator
Lori started at Embry Hills UMC in 2001 as financial secretary. She is a CPA in public practice as a sole proprietor and has worked in this capacity since 1984. Lori graduated from Georgia Southern College and began her career with a small local CPA firm then with her own firm for 10 years. Lori grew up at Embry Hills UMC. Her parents are members here as well. Lori has four kids who have all grown up at Embry Hills UMC! In her spare time, Lori spends lots of time with her kids and her dogs.  She and her son have a small pet-sitting business that keeps them very busy as well. She also volunteers with other non-profit organizations and churches in the area to provide accounting services.

Dottie Hunt

Director of Music Ministries
Dottie Hunt is a graduate of Wesleyan College with a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance. She has served at Crossroads UMC-Conyers, and Stockbridge UMC in the North Georgia Conference and Ingleside UMC-Macon and Vineville UMC-Macon in the South Georgia Conference. Most recently, she has been a member of the 9:35 Band at Oak Grove United Methodist Church. Previously, she played keyboards with Timothy’s Burden out of Salem UMC - Covington.

Linda Jimenez-Abrams

Director of Children's and Community Ministries
Starting in August of 2022, Linda joined EHUMC as a full-time Staff as the Director of Children's and Community Ministries. Linda grew up in El Salvador, Central America where she studied for her bachelor's degree. She was also involved in college theater for five years. Linda decided to move to the U.S. when she was 23 years old. Her faith experiences led her to want to know more about God and teaching others, so she went back to school to study for a Master in Divinity at Mcafee school of theology. Linda is married to Ruben Jimenez-Abrams and they have two beautiful cats named Apollo and Ramses. She enjoys traveling to places around the world and connecting with people by learning new languages.

Cassie Ruiz

Director of Student Ministries
Starting in November of 2023, Cassie joined EHUMC as a part-time staff as the Director of Student Ministries. Cassie is a first-year student at Candler School of Theology pursuing a Master of Divinity. She is originally from Florida but recently moved to Atlanta from Birmingham, Alabama where she studied Religion and Spanish at Birmingham-Southern College. Cassie is currently in the candidacy process for ordination in the North Alabama Conference and has served several United Methodist churches within that conference. She is passionate about connecting with and empowering youth and is very excited to be joining the Embry Hills UMC community!

Stephanie Train

Embry Hills Preschool and Kindergarten Director
Stephanie Train joined the Embry Hills UMC Staff in June 2020 as Director of Preschool and Kindergarten. An Atlanta native, Stephanie graduated from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina with a BA in English, then headed straight back to her hometown. She taught pre-K for many years, coordinated a full-day summer camp program, and was an assistant preschool director (sometimes concurrently). She's most proud of her beautiful daughters (and her cat Pizza.)