Our Church Staff
Rev. Aryn Williams-Ruebel
Pastor
Pastor Aryn is a native North Carolinian who grew up in the rural farming community of East Bend. She has been serving churches in Jackson and Haywood County since 2012. A life long Methodist, second career pastor she has a life-time of real world experience. She has a BA in Psychology and a MA in Health Education from East Carolina University. She has worked in group homes for kids, as a contact tracer for Syphilis and HIV and has worked with children with developmental disabilities. She received her call from God to ministry in 2010 and has her Mdiv from Emory University. She has a passion for connecting the church with the community and seeing how the Holy Spirit continues to work through us. Pastor Aryn joined Cashiers UMC in 2020 with her Husband Jay and their three daughters Gracie, Norah and Journi.
Caroline Franklin
Church Administrator
Caroline joined our Cashiers UMC staff in the fall of 2022. Caroline has 8 plus years of administrative and bookkeeping knowledge under her belt. Caroline and her husband, Ken, live in Highlands with their daughter, Abigail. In her spare time, Caroline’s hobbies include spending time with her family, serving on the board of the Cashiers Valley Community Choir, attending local concerts, family hikes with their 2 dogs, reading, gardening, and anything history related.
Lora Williams
Church Secretary
Lori has lived in Sylva for the past 25+ years except for staying a few years in Ohio during that time. She has over 35 years of customer service, and clerical experience. Lori has one grown daughter, a son in law, and a very active grandson, whom she loves dearly.
Bryan Heller
Worship Director
Betty Morris
Chancel and Bell Choir Director
Betty received her B.S. in Music Education from the University of Tennessee. Over time, she has served in multiple positions in our church including Director of Music, Stephen Ministry Leader, and Children, Youth & Families Director. She is involved in a number of community activities including the Cashiers Community Chorus and City on a Hill.
Phil Perkins
Organist and Chancel Choir Co-Conductor
Phil Perkins is a native of Duncan, OK, he graduated in 1970 from North Texas State University with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. Further graduate studies at Baylor Univ. completed his formal training. After college, he was a music editor for Word Music, Inc. In 1973, he became an independent writer, arranger, producer, publisher and extended his services to other sacred music publishers and record companies. In 1979, he became VP and head of the publishing division of the Sparrow Corporation. In 1987, he started Music Services, Inc. based in Nashville to provides global administration services to music publishers and record labels. During his career, he has continued to write, arrange, orchestrate and produce many recordings which have earned gold and platinum status along with a Grammy nomination and a Dove award. He has composed over 100 original works and arranged over 1,000 compositions.
Susan Stewart
Mother’s Morning Out Director
Susan has been with our Mother’s Morning Out program for over 12 years and brings with her a vast amount of education, knowledge and experience in early childhood education. She and her husband, Frank, have two grown children and one granddaughter, Samantha.
Yvonne Ferrin
Mother's Morning Out Assistant
Yvonne Ferrin has lived and worked with children in Cashiers area for 30 plus years. She has been apart of our Mother’s Morning Out staff for many years and is a valuable asset to our team. In addition to being apart of our MMO staff, she also cares for the children in our nursery on Sunday mornings. Yvonne has four children who were raised in Cashiers, and she is also the proud grandmother of 2 beautiful grandchildren.
Jazi Ferrin
Mothers Morning Out Assistant
Jazi Ferrin was raised in the Cashiers area. She is a student at Western Carolina University majoring in Birth-Kindergarten studies. She has been actively involved with our Mother’s Morning Out program before joining our Mother’s Morning out program staff full time as an assistant in 2022. You can also find her most Sunday mornings helping her mom in the nursery. We are blessed with her talent!
David Hunter
Maintenance/ Landscaping Supervisor
David is a jack of all trades and has worked in construction and landscaping for years. He was employed by Tom Chambers Builders of Highlands, NC before joining CUMC in February 2020. He is a wonderful asset to our church and makes sure everything runs smoothly.