This page is provided to introduce you to the staff of our church. The
write-ups/biographies/resumes and photographs were provided by the people named,
themselves.

Jonathan
Marlowe
Co-Pastor
I was born in Charleston, SC. I grew up in Methodist parsonages in the South
Carolina conference where my father served as a pastor. I consider my hometown
to be Sumter, SC, where I graduated high school in 1987. During my early years,
I was shaped and formed by many wonderful Christians who taught me about the
love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. My parents and church kept their
baptismal promises to raise me in a Christian environment, and when I was in 6th
grade I was confirmed and decided for myself to follow Christ. I remember one
time in particular during a UMYF retreat when I experienced the grace of God in
a particularly powerful and refreshing way. My faith in Christ grew through the
years, and I carried it with me into adulthood. (Rather than saying I carried my
faith into my adulthood, it would be more accurate to say that my faith carried
me into adulthood.)
I attended college at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. I quickly became
interested in the study of theology. I also was active in the Methodist Campus
Ministry, where I met Angela, who later became my wife. One summer during
college, I worked at the United Methodist Community House in Grand Rapids,
Michigan. At the end of that summer, I felt called of God to become an ordained
minister, and so after graduating from Emory, I enrolled in Duke Divinity
School.
While I was in seminary, Angela and I got married, and after graduating from
Duke, I served as an associate pastor at two different churches in the Charlotte
area. I then served as pastor of Prospect UMC in Monroe and Shiloh UMC in
Granite Quarry (near Salisbury). I see my vocation as pastor to be one of
teacher, preacher, spiritual guide, and trusted friend. I have served beyond the
local church in the conference as a member of the Board of Ordained Ministry,
and the board of managers for the N. C. pastors' school and Duke Convocation.
I am an avid sports fan: I pull for Duke in basketball and South Carolina in
football. I also love Braves baseball and the Carolina Panthers in the NFL. I
enjoy walking, reading, making new friends, telling stories, and teasing my
wife.

Angela
Marlowe
Co-Pastor
I was born in Charlotte (April 10) and attended Independence High School,
graduating in 1984. My parents still live in the house where I was raised. I
have one sister, Amy Raynor and a brother in law Brian. They have twins -
Brianna and Cole, which are our miracle children. Ask me about their story some
time, I love to share it. As a child and youth I was very active in church and
Girl Scouting. In scouting I earned my Gold Award and was a camp counselor. In
church I sang in the youth choir, played handbells, and played my guitar.
After high school I attended Emory University in Atlanta. During college I
was extremely active in Wesley Fellowship, the Methodist college ministry. This
is where Jonathan and I met. That is an interesting story I love to share. At
the beginning of college I was planning to attend medical school and spent my
time and energy in math and science classes. For fun I took a few religion
classes and psychology classes. The summer before my junior year in college I
worked at Camp Tekoa, the conference summer camp. I loved the fact that no
matter what we did with the children and youth - it was in the framework of
learning more about God and their faith. I was hooked. I knew that whatever I
did - it was to be in the framework of the church. The next summer, I worked at
a local United Methodist Church as a summer intern. There I had my first
opportunity to preach. Again I was hooked. I had accidently stumbled into my
true calling. God had led me into local church ministry where I could preach,
teach, and work with children, youth, and adults. I changed my major to religion
and psychology and graduated in 1988. I stayed at Emory and attended Candler
School of Theology, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in 1991.
Since seminary I have served churches in Cornelius, Indian Trail, and
Salisbury. Jonathan and I were married during my first appointment on May 22,
1993. Over the next few years, life was filled with young children and church
life. In 2008, I received my Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree from Hood
Theological Seminary. I have served and continue to serve on many district and
conference committees. I am presently serving at the Chair of the Commission on
Equitable Compensation for the annual conference.
I enjoy watching many different types of sports and pulling for my favorite
teams. I love surfing the web on my laptop and listening to music on my ipod. At
this point I do not blog or tweet.

Jim Gunn
Director of Music
Full Name: James Palmer Gunn, but I prefer to be called Jim
Born: July 29, 1960 in Reidsville, NC, but I consider McLeansville, NC my
hometown.
Family: My wife Tina and I were married July 7, 1984. We have four children;
Shelli, Nathan, Adam, and Katie.
Education/Music Background: Graduated in 1982 from N. C. State University.
While at N. C. State, I was a member the NCSU Brass Band, Fanfare Band and
Marching Band, serving as Drum Major from 1979-1980. I also participated in the
NCSU Choral Department’s Varsity Men’s Glee Club.
I have been an active member of the Gibsonville United Methodist Church since
1984 and a member of the Chancel Choir since 1987.
Favorites: Music: Contemporary Praise & Worship and Modern Country (Wow!
What a combo, right!?!?)
Movie: Gone with the Wind
TV Shows: All the CSI shows, Survivor, and ER (but I rarely get to watch any
of them)
Food: Chinese
Vacation: Just about any Beach
Place to Eat: Harpers at Friendly Center
Books/Author: John Grisham novels and the Harry Potter series

Susan Pyles
Organist, Pianist
Susan received a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Western Carolina
University and a Masters degree in Education from Elon University. She
previously taught 4th and 5th grade literature and language arts. She served as
accompanist at St. Mark's Church from 1992 until 2009 and currently works at
LabCorp in Burlington, North Carolina.
Her home church is West Burlington Methodist where she learned to play the
organ for worship services during the summers and played piano duets with the
organist each weekend.