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About Oconee Street United Methodist Church

Pastor Lisa Caine

Rev. Lisa Caine is a third career pastor. She was a college English instructor at Tift College in Forsyth, GA and Union College in Barbourville, Ky. before becoming a medical office administrator for a group medical practice in Atlanta.

After the death of her husband Bruce in 1992, she answered the call to ministry in 1993, graduating magna cum laude from Candler School of Theology in 1997. She was ordained a probationary deacon in 1997 and an elder in full connection in 1999. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Georgia State University and the M.Div. degree from Candler School of Theology of Emory University. She served for 4 years as the pastor of the Corinth-Pentecost Charge in Winder, and for 8 years as the pastor of Oconee Street UMC in Athens and the Director of Athens Urban Ministry. AUM, a ministry of Action Ministries, Inc., operates Our Daily Bread, the primary weekday feeding program for the hungry in Athens from the kitchen/fellowship hall of Oconee Street UMC.

In June 2001 she retired from the directorship of AUM to serve as the pastor of Oconee St. UMC only and to assume new and exciting responsibilities as a first time grandmother to Isak du Plooy, her first grandchild.

Lisa continues to serve on the Boards of the Athens Nurses’ Clinic and Lanier Gardens and is the clergy advisor to the Athens-Elberton District Committee on Lay Speaking. Lisa’s son Sean, and daughter and son-in law Meg and Braam du Plooy live and work in the Atlanta area.

Contact Information

Oconee Street UMC
717 Oconee St.
Athens, GA
30605
706-353-6647
706-353-7466 (fax)
pastor@oconeestreetumc.org

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History of Oconee Street UMC

The church has had an interesting and vital ministry in the Athens community since its beginning in 1871 with 16 members to the present membership of just over 100.

In its early years, a Sunday School class was held in the afternoon and the building was then located on Oconee St. near Broad St. on the other side of the Oconee River.

In 1882 John Wesley Brown organized a Sunday school on the east side of the Oconee River, and this class soon became associated with the Oconee Street church, as was another Sunday school class, located in the Baldwin Street community. In a special meeting of its quarterly conference, December 8, 1902, the three Sunday school classes were consolidated.

In 1903, during the ministry of the Rev. M. H. Cakes, the old church building was moved to its present location at the corner of Oconee and Poplar Streets, and a parsonage home across from the church was purchased to house the pastor and family.

Beginning in 1920, and continuing until the present, many improvements have been made to the buildings and grounds. During the summer of 1910, when the Rev. A. F. Nunn was the pastor, the Stone-Nicholson Sunday school rooms were built into the balcony section of the church sanctuary.

In March, 1968, during the pastorate of Rev. C. L. Harris, and under the leadership of Harry Kirk, building chairperson, a much needed new educational building was added, consisting of nine classrooms, nursery, church office and pastor’s study, music room, fellowship hall and restrooms.

In 1975 the church approved a plan for upgrading and remodeling the church and in 1979 completed the renovation of the sanctuary.

In 1980, Oconee Street welcomed the Rev. Carolyn Morris as pastor, making it the first church in the Athens-Elberton District to receive a woman as pastor.

In 1989, Oconee Street affirmed its commitment to mission by joining with Athens Urban Ministry to open the city’s first noon kitchen, Our Daily Bread, under the direction of Rev. Ted Staton, who served as both pastor of Oconee Street UMC and director of Our Daily Bread.

The church’s commitment to mission is demonstrated in many other ways both to the community and the world at large. In 2004 the church completed the requirements to become a Church of Excellence in Outreach in the North Georgia Annual Conference.

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Work Areas and Committees, 2010

Worship
Steve Williams and Amanda Scott, Co-Chairs
Wilma Hutcheson-Williams, Amanda Scott, Maxine Easom, Edwina Biron, Jonathan Biron
Altar Guild: Gloria Hall, Wilma Hutcheson-Williams

Study: Children’s Education and Ministry
Meg Hines and Rebecca Alpaugh, Co-Chairs
Meg Hines, Sharon Pendley, Rebecca Alpaugh, Angie Pendley, Alexis Wylie

Study: Youth Education and Ministry
Frankie Wylie and Joe Dennis, Co-Chairs
Hal Turner, Edwina Biron, Jenny Alpaugh

Study: Adult Education and Ministry
Edwina Biron, Chair
Allie and Mike Pennington, Maxine Easom, Katie Calkin

Missions
Beth Gavrilles, Chair
Katie Calkin, Enrique Alpaugh, Mary Weisenburg, Drew Davis
IHN coordinators: Jamie and Katie Calkin
ODB liaison: JoBeth Allen

Nurture
JoBeth and Lew Allen, Co-Chairs
Hospitality Focus Group: JoBeth and Lew Allen, Mary Weisenburg
Membership and Visitor Visitation Focus Group: Joel Siebentritt, Madelyn Osborn
Communications Focus Group: Joe Dennis, Jesse Siebentritt

PPR
Linda Burchfield, Lay Leader
Maxine Easom (2010), Chair
Neal Anderson (2010), Edwina Biron (2012), Jamie Calkin (2011), Joe Dennis (2011), Beth Gavrilles (2012)

Committee on Lay Leadership
Sharon Pendley (2010), Edwina Biron (2011), Joe Dennis (2012)

Trustees
Chris Hall (2012), Chair
Drew Davis (2011), Gloria Hall (2010), Chris Pendley (2011), Mary Weisenburg (2010), Greg Wylie (2012)

Finance Committee
Mikell Gleason and Gloria Hall, Co-Chairs
Jonathan Biron, Council Chair; Linda Burchfield, Lay Leader; Maxine Easom, PPR Chair, Lay member of AC
Mikell Gleason, Treasurer; Gloria Hall, Financial Secretary; Chris Hall, Trustees Chair; Lisa Caine, Pastor

Church Council
Chair: Jonathan Biron
Secretary: Sharon Pendley
Treasurer: Mikell Gleason
Financial Secy Gloria Hall
Lay Leader: Linda Burchfield
Lay Member to AC: Maxine Easom
Children’s Education and Ministry: Rebecca Alpaugh and Meg Hines, Co-Chairs
Youth Education and Ministry: Frankie Wylie and Joe Dennis, Co-Chairs
PPR Chair: Maxine Easom
Trustees Chair: Chris Hall
Sunday School Superintendent: Ken Easom
Ministry Chair: Beth Gavrilles
Worship Co-Chairs: Steve Williams and Amanda Scott
Membership Secretary: Sharon Pendley
UMW President: Maxine Easom
Nurture Chair: JoBeth and Lew Allen, Co-Chairs
ODB Liaison: JoBeth Allen

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Oconee Street United Methodist Church
Location:
717 Oconee Street, Athens, Georgia
Phone: (706) 543-1327
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6707, Athens, GA 30604