::Robin Merrill::
::Youth Minister::
::rmerrill@ogumc.org::
::404.636.7558 ext. 203::
Robin claimed Matthew 5:16 as her personal Bible verse when she was 14 years old and has tried to live her life in such a way that brings honor and glory to God. “Let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father in heaven.” Robin has been a member of Oak Grove UMC for 23 years. She became passionate about working with teenagers while on a mission trip with her family to Austria in 2006. Her heart’s desire is for every young person and their family is to fall in love with our Savior, Jesus Christ, and to begin living a life that is full of the joy and peace that only He can give.
Robin loves to cook, entertain, take pictures, read, spend time with her family, “walk and talk”, meet people for coffee at Starbucks or Panera and have lunch at the Oak Grove Market. God is all about “divine appointments” and Robin enjoys looking around daily to see where God is moving so that she can jump in!!
Robin and her husband, Chad, have been married for 24 years and have 2 sons, Barrett, age 16 and Chirstian, age 13. Being the youth minister at Oak Grove is truly a family ministry because each one of the Merrill family is as passionate about the ministry as Robin.
::Robyn Giles::
::Youth Ministry Administrator::
::rgiles(at)ogumc.org::
::404.636.7558 ext. 202::
Robyn Giles starting working at Oak Grove part time in youth
ministry in 2006 after a long (20+) years in Corporate America. She left with a
desire to serve the Lord and do something bigger with her life.
God is good and Robyn was lead to Oak Grove by her mother-in-law
(Kathy Brooks) a long time member. She was asked to work full-time in 2009 and
gratefully accepted. She splits her time between youth and main office
administration even though she is almost always found in the youth building.
Robyn is thankful and happy to use her skills for the glory of God! She loves
working for and with the youth and loves seeing them grow in every way!
Robyn has been happily married to her husband Joe Brooks and has a stepson,
BJ (21), who is a senior at Evansville University in Indiana. She has a younger
sister Melanie and her parents live in The Villages, Florida.
Robyn loves to cook, loves plants and she enjoys golfing on
occasion. She is also a fan of Formula 1 racing.
::Mia Northington::
::Student Impact Leader::
::Mia.northington(at)gmail.com::
::404-636-7558 x 201::
Mia Northington started working with the Revolution Community last year as a seminary intern, and is now serving on staff as the Student Impact Leader. She is a third year student at Emory’s Candler School of Theology and will graduate with her Masters of Divinity in May 2012.
Mia grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and has felt called to youth ministry and mission work since the seventh grade. Throughout middle school and high school, Mia was very involved in her youth group at Church Street UMC. She was particularly influenced during mission trips to Appalachia and Mexico, and learned that she has a real passion for serving others. While Mia attended college at the University of Tennessee (UT), she served as an adult volunteer with the youth group at Church Street and went on several Katrina relief trips in Mississippi. She was also a summer counselor at Camp Wesley Woods, a Holston Conference camp, in Townsend, Tennessee. Mia graduated from UT in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, and a minor in Business Administration.
Following graduation, Mia moved to Atlanta and started a job in sales. After working for a staffing firm for two years, she acknowledged that she was denying her lifelong dream of ministry. She applied to Candler, and was led to Oak Grove UMC at the end of her first year. Outside of church, Mia enjoys spending time with friends and family, eating good food, listening to good music, and spending time outdoors. She loves spending time with the youth of the Revolution Community and looks forward to working with them again this year!
::Wesley Sanders::
::wessanders(at)gmail.com::
Wesley is a 2nd year Master of Divinity student at Candler School of Theology, focusing on Church History. He is a candidate for the ordained ministry in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
He is passionate about teaching Scripture and theology to people of all ages and helping to build up the Church with an appreciation for what God has done in the past, excitement about what God is doing today, and a hope and expectation for what God has in store for the future! As an undergraduate, he managed a sound and lighting production company and continues to use these skills to enhance worship experiences for the Revolution Community.
Wesley has been married to Kristen, a neuroscience PhD student at Emory University, since June of 2010, and they enjoy sharing in ministry together.
Lucas Pruett is new to the staff here at Youth Grove and has come here from little Centre, AL where he was serving as a Youth Director at a Methodist Church. Youth ministry has held a special place in his heart since the ninth grade. This passion has led him to be a student volunteer, group leader, intern, and chaperone for many different youth programs around the area he grew up in. However, after attending the Gainey Leadership retreat in Montana during his junior year of college, he decided that his passion was not calling him to be a volunteer, but more of a leader within the world that is youth ministry. After two jobs in Alabama while finishing out college at Shorter University, Lucas now finds himself eager and ready to serve the students at Oak Grove United Methodist as well as the students at Lakeside High School where he is the FCA Campus Director. His passion to work with students is driven by his desire to help lead them into the devoted and loving lives that Christ intended for us to live. When not working with students, then Lucas enjoys spending time with family and friends, serving, and participating in any sport imaginable. He personally enjoys the many fresh new relationships that his job brings about and the thrill of getting to meet new people day in and day out in the big Atlanta environment is something that extremely excites him.
