Meet The Preachers

    Each week during Lent we will be hosting livestreamed Lenten Noon Services. Each week will feature a guest preacher. 

    Rev. Zeke Allen

    Zeke was born in Gentry, AR.  He attended ATU and then Brite Divinity and Memphis Theological Seminary.  He began ministry as a full-time youth minister in 1996.  He served as a youth minister for 14 years and then transitioned to an elder in the United Methodist Church.  Zeke currently serves Wesley and Cavanaugh United Methodist Churches in Fort Smith.

    Rev. Corey Read

    Rev. Corey Read currently serves as the Pastor of the Wesley Foundation at Southern Arkansas University. She previously served as an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in West Memphis, AR. She also served in the admissions office at Duke Divinity School, where she received her Masters of Divinity and met her husband, Rev. Dan Read, who is also an ordained elder in the Arkansas Conference. In her free time, Corey spends much of her time chasing their (almost) three year old, Alyce.

    Rev. Roy Beth Kellley

    Rev. Roy Beth Kellley is the Executive Associate Pastor at Fort Smith First United Methodist Church and has previously served Dover UMC, and Atkins and Bell’s Chapel UMC’s. She has previously worked as a teacher and lawyer and has just been approved for ordination as an Elder at Annual Conference in June.

    Rev. James Kjorlaug

    James has a deep and abiding passion for connecting people with the magnificent mystery of God.  He answered a call to ministry in 2008 after years of curiosity driven exploration in Scripture and prayer.  Answering that call took him into a lot of churches, non-profits, and even through a time in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Thanks to a personal love of stories and an academic love of literature he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Arkansas State University.  Thanks to a call to ministry he holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School. James has a passion for creating spaces where people who haven’t been able to connect with the church can authentically connect and feel welcomed as they are.  He grew up seeing and expecting the transformative love of God as a wholistic vision of the Table of Christ which consistently was a place all are welcomed and celebrated as beloved children of God. James loves to go hiking with his family; Krista, Henry, and Patrick.  He is also an artist who loves to paint and reflect on the work and wonder of God through art.

    Rev. Dr. Michelle J. Morris

    The Rev. Dr. Michelle J. Morris is an ordained elder in the Arkansas Conference. She served Arkansas churches in West Memphis and Fort Smith at Wesley and Cavanaugh, and now serves as an Associate Pastor overseeing the digital campus of FUMC Conway. She has also served in the Arkansas Conference Offices, working on church revitalization and new church starts. That work gave rise to Gospel Discipleship, which helps people understand their discipleship in terms of defining paths spelled out in each of the four Gospels. She bleeds Razorback red, holding two degrees from the University of Arkansas – BA in English and French and MA in Comparative Literature.  She also has her MDiv and a PhD in Religious Studies (emphasis New Testament), both from SMU in Dallas. Michelle writes for the Adult Bible Studies curriculum and is one of the writers for the CEB Women’s Bible. She is passionate about connecting people to Jesus in meaningful ways, and loves to help people gain a deeper understanding of their discipleship and how to move forward in it.