BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
KIM COCHRAN
CHAIR
Kim serves as the Chair of our Board of Directors. She graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in Industrial Engineering. She spent her early career in the utility industry and then moved into sales in the electrical distribution market. Kim has worked for GE Lighting, Fluke Corp, and now works for TestEquity LLC. She has done everything from carrying the bag in a territory, managing large distributors and rep partners, leading a regional sales team, and serving as the Sales Vice-President for half of the U.S. Kim and her family have been a part of this congregation for over 30 years where she has served in several leadership roles throughout that time. She has been married to Mike for 42 years and they reside in Madison, MS along with their son Chris. Their daughter, Karli and her husband, Jareth, live in Mobile, AL. They also have two beautiful grandchildren, Mason and Mattie Rae.
WILL JOHNSON
VICE CHAIR
Will serves as the Vice-Chair of our Board of Directors. He graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in Finance. Will has worked in the investment business for the last 29 years. He is a Managing Director at Smith Shellnut Wilson (SSW), an affiliate of B1bank where he specializes in helping institutions, corporations, foundations, insurance companies, hospitals, government entities, families and individuals risk manage their assets. Will and his wife, Stacy, have two daughters, Olivia (26) and Ainslee (19). Olivia lives in New York, NY, and Ainslee attends Samford University in Birmingham, AL. Will enjoys playing golf, following Mississippi State sports, and spending time with his family.
JOHN MOORE
SECRETARY
John Moore serves as the Secretary of our Board of Directors. He and his wife, Penny, have two teenage children, Julia, and Luke. Over the past 20 years, John has served in several church leadership roles, including Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Weekday Ministry, as well as Co-Chairing the 2020 Capital Campaign. He has also been involved in other charitable and community work, including serving on the Advisory Board of Stop Hunger Now and the Board of Shriners’ Hospital for Children in Shreveport, where he served as Vice-Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. John is a business and estate planning attorney. He has been selected as one of the Top 40 Leaders in Law by the Mississippi Business Journal and the Mississippi Bar has previously awarded him the Lawyer Citizenship Award for his charitable and community work. He earned a BA from Mercer University, MBA, and JD from Mississippi College, and LLM, with honors, from the University of Alabama. He is also a mediator, having received certification from the Program on Mediation at Harvard University. In 2012, John entered the Hospitality Industry with his participation in the development and opening of the Sleep Inn & Suites, in Gulfport, Mississippi. In 2016, he and his partner developed and opened Margaritaville Resort Biloxi.
DANNY HART
TREASURER
Danny serves as Treasurer of the Board of Directors. He is a retired CPA, and founding partner of Crowell, Thames, and Hart, which later merged with Horne, LLP. He retired from Horne as a partner in the healthcare division in 2008. Danny served as Treasurer, Chairman of the Finance Committee, and as Lay Leader at SMUMC, as well as teaching the Heart to Heart Sunday School for about 30 years. Danny has been married to Suzanne for 54 years and they live in Madison. They have 2 adult children, 5 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.
RUSTY HEALY
AT-LARGE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER
Rusty serves as an At-Large Member of the Executive Committee on the Board of Directors. He has been married to Ellen for 36 years. Together, they have 2 grown daughters and 1 grandchild. He has been in the insurance business for the past 40 years and is preparing for retirement by year’s end. Rusty was a member of St. Matthews for 29 years. He is also active in the Lion’s Club and the Kairos Prison Ministry.
SCOTT WALLER
AT-LARGE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER
Scott serves as an At-Large Member of the Executive Committee on the Board of Directors. He is President and CEO of Mississippi Economic Council – The State Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest broad-based business organization. MEC plays a pivotal role in developing meaningful public policy initiatives for improving workforce development, education, economic development, transportation, and tax policy. In August 2022 the National Association of State Chambers (NASC) honored MEC as the State Chamber of the Year, making it the nations’ top state chamber in 2022. The Shubuta native and Mississippi State University graduate serves on the State Workforce Investment Board. Nationally, he is Chair of the NASC Center for State Chamber Action, Chair of the NASC Workforce Transformation Coalition, and on the NASC Board of Directors. He serves on the U.S. Chamber’s The Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100, the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management National Board of Trustees, and the National Transportation Investment Advocacy Council. He was named one of Mississippi’s 50 Most Influential Leaders in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The Mississippi Business Journal has recognized him as one of Mississippi’s top CEOs. He and his wife Kim have a son, Shane, who lives in Washington D.C.
AT-LARGE MEMBERS
JEFF BROOME
Jeff grew up in Wesley UMC and was a Charter member of St Matthew’s UMC. He has worked in the communications field his entire career, working at Sound & Communications for 35 years where he holds the Sr. Design position specializing in Audio, Video and Acoustics. Jeff resides in Madison with his wife, Necie. They have two daughters, Tara and Lydia.
PATRICK DAVIS
Patrick is a Mortgage Loan Officer at The First in Madison. He graduated from Mississippi State in 2001, has been married to Haley for 20 years, and they have two boys, Grayson (16) and Finley (15). Patrick has been a part of this congregation for 26 years. He is actively involved in the Jackson Alumni Chapter of Kappa Sigma and Mississippi State Alumni groups. Patrick enjoys cooking, traveling, attending Mississippi State sporting events, and spending quality time with his family.
TOM HALFORD
Tom is a MS native who grew up in Forest, MS. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion from Asbury University and a Master of Divinity in Biblical Literature and Historical Theology from Asbury Theological Seminary. He served as a missionary with One Mission Society in Colombia, South America and in their home office in Greenwood, IN. Tom was the Founding Pastor of Grace Covenant Church, in Arlington, TX. He was the Director of the Barnabas Foundation discipleship ministry in Wilmore, KY. He was an Administrator in various roles at Wesley Biblical Seminary. And for the past 8 years Tom served as a bi-vocational pastor of Mt. Olivet UMC in Yazoo County. He retired from the pastorate at the end of June last year. He is married to his lovely wife, Jan. They have 3 adult children and 5 amazing grandchildren.
BECKY TILTON
Becky holds an undergraduate degree from Mississippi University for Women and a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University. For over twenty years she was a trainer and consultant in both the public and private sector. Her career included management of the post Katrina donations and distribution center for the State of Mississippi and the management of the MS Alternative Housing Pilot Program, a $2.8 million grant from FEMA to build cottages on the Gulf Coast. After retiring from the State, she opened her own training and consulting business for the last five years of her career. In active support of her dedication to public service, Becky is past Commander of the Mississippi Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the first woman to hold the post in Mississippi. She remains a member of CAP, the nation’s civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force and currently holds the rank of Colonel. She is active in her neighborhood Homeowners’ Association, serving on the Board for over eighteen years and as President for seven years. Her church service has included Staff Parish with five years as Chairman; serving on past and current Congregational Care Committees; currently on the Finance committee; and as member of Sew Blessed. Becky is widowed and has wonderful stepchildren and grandchildren.
JOYCE WILLIAMS
Joyce serves as an at-large member of the Board. She grew up in Purvis, MS and earned her degree in Accounting at the University of Southern Miss. She is a Certified Management Accountant & is retired from Tyson Foods, where she worked as a Controller for 39 years; prior to that she worked in Public Accounting. She & her husband, David, have been in our church group for over 20 years. She served on the Board of Trustees, Finance Committee & Weekday Board at SMUMC. They have 4 children, 7 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. They live in the Reservoir area, and are enjoying retirement.
MITCH WOOTEN
Mitch Wooten retired from Entergy after 35 years and now work for Irby Construction. Married to Sharon Wooten and have three children, Chelsea Turner, Nicholas Wooten, and Courtney Pickle. Sharon and Mitch have five grandchildren with a grandson on the way. They have been members of this congregation for over 25 years.
JIM GAGE
Jim Gage retired from United Piping Inc., where he dedicated 35 years of his career as an owner and estimator. Jim has been married for 45 years to his wife Holly and has three children and five grandchildren. He has also been a devoted member of this congregation for 45 plus years. In addition to his service at the church, Jim was a past board member of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Jim has a passion for endurance horse riding, gardening and restoring Jeeps. He also proudly served his country in the Army.