Clinton Methodist Church

Jimmy and his wife, Debbie, are new to Clinton. They met in the church youth group in their hometown of Houlka, MS. You might say they have been youth group sweethearts for 30 years! They have three children, Ethan, Landon, and Caroline. Their fur-family consists of one dog named Little Bit and two cats, Tails and Dalton.

Jimmy has been in pastoral ministry for 24 years serving churches in central and north Mississippi. He is a graduate of Wood College, Oral Roberts University, and Asbury Theological Seminary. Outside of the local church, he is an active gravel and road cyclist, artist, and fisherman.

Jimmy’s calling in ministry was shaped within the context of Wesleyan discipleship – accountability, small groups, and the theology of grace. He is passionate about helping churches discover their unique mission within the Body of Christ and experience renewal at all levels through vision clarity. Jimmy and his family are excited to be Clinton Arrows!

Tommy a native of Morton, MS, has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Masters of Music degree from Mississippi College.   He loves playing tennis and basketball in his spare time.

Tommy heads a vibrant music ministry at CMC Clinton which includes 10 choirs and groups.  There are choirs for all ages, including singing choirs, handbell choirs, and orchestra.

Tom and his wife, Jamie, have lived in Clinton since 2003 and are raising three beautiful girls here, Abbey, Molly and Elsie. Tom has served at CMC Clinton as the Connection Worship Leader since August of 2011 and is also an itinerant worship leader for various church conferences, camps and retreats. Through working with the Connection and student worship bands, Tom hopes to provide an opportunity for musicians of any age and skill level to plug in and serve in a nurturing environment. As a worship leader, he longs to bring people to a place where their hearts and minds connect with the gospel and then join together with their brothers and sisters in Christ in celebrating our great God. To learn a little more about him, check out tomedwardsband.com.

Originally from Illinois, Nikki and her husband Ben moved to Clinton in 2015 for work purposes. Together with Ben, they have three beautiful children that you’ll see running the office hallways. Nikki holds a B.S. from Purdue University. After volunteering in kids’ ministry for many years, Nikki answered the call to vocational kids’ ministry and joined our staff as the kids’ ministry director in 2020. Nikki is excited to assist in the discipleship of your children and looks forward to growing our kids ministry for the sake of the Kingdom.

Lauren is a native of Clinton, MS.  She, her husband, Jon and their two daughters, Madeline and Henley Anne have recently moved back to Clinton after living in Zachary, LA and Biloxi, MS for the past 15 years.

Lauren has a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Education from the University of Southern Mississippi.  She has worked in college student affairs, preschool education and children’s ministry. Lauren is excited to be a part of the Kids Ministry at CMC Clinton.

Ginny was born in Vicksburg , MS. She has two grown daughters, Vicky Sartin, and Elizabeth Van Egmond. She has three cats and likes to crochet, read, do sudoku puzzles, sew and travel.

Ginny has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi College, majoring in history, with a minor in music. She works at Foreman Perry Law firm as a paralegal. She has played the organ in many cities in Mississippi, and has been playing at CMC since 1981.

Sarah Shaw grew up in South Jackson and began taking piano lessons at age seven. At age twelve she began playing for her Youth Choir and as church pianist at Epworth UMC for $25 a month. She played all through Junior High and High School. She played in a volunteer capacity while active in the Wesley Foundation at Mississippi State University.

After college she moved to Corinth, MS, for several years. After moving back to Jackson, and with no formal organ training, she began playing the organ at Epworth in the late 1980s and continued in that capacity for over 20 years until Epworth closed in 2009.

At that time, she and several others moved their membership to CMC-Clinton, where she has been active in the Chancel and Handbell Choirs and subbed for both Ginny and Brenda. She has served as our Lay Delegate to the Annual Conference, and on several church committees.

Sarah’s “day job” is in IT for Saks (originally with McRaes), working from her home in Madison. She hopes to retire from the daily grind sometime in 2025 and spend her time on more enjoyable endeavors.

Although Sarah will be moving her church membership to another UMC in the metro area, she is happy to come aboard as our pianist, and share her love of music in worship, as she has for over fifty years.

Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your talent with our church.

Dianne grew up in Kosciusko, MS. She has called Clinton “HOME” since 1984 and a member of CMC Clinton for over 32 years. She married the love of her life, Chip Alford, and they will be celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary on October 1, 2023.  They share 3 grown sons and 3 beautiful daughters-in-law, Chase Dorsey (Mary Grace), Kyle Dorsey (Casey), and Matthew Alford (Morgan) and two beautiful granddaughters, Kaylee Jo Dorsey (3 yr.), Finley Nichols (9 yr.). and one handsome grandson, Lane Dorsey (19 mo).  Dianne & Chip are best known as DooDah & Zip by their grandchildren and friends.

Dianne came on board as receptionist with CMC Clinton in January 2020 and, took over the role of Office Manager in July 2021. Dianne has over 30 years in management and staffing.   She loves people, her church and community and looks forward to helping our church grow. She is excited to continuing sharing her love and enthusiasm with the people of CMC Clinton.

Laura Marie is from Clinton, MS. She has two daughters, Addison and Aubree, both of whom attend our Weekday Ministry Program. Laura Marie has a B.S. Degree in Kinesiology and minor in Nutrition and Psychology from Mississippi College. She has worked in outside sales and management for several years. She is excited to be working at CMC-Clinton.