Staff

Ryan has been the Lead Pastor of Lebanon First UMC since December of 2017.  He has served in churches in the Middle Tennessee area since 1998.  Ryan grew up in Cookeville, graduating from Cookeville High School in 1991.  He is also an alum of The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, graduating with a BS in Education.  He has his Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary.  Ryan is married to Heather.  Heather is the director of the nonprofit, Blessed Earth Tennessee (www.blessedearthtn.com), an organization that exists to helps Christians understand their biblical call to care for creation.  They have one son, Tyler, and his “brother” Commodore the dog.  Ryan enjoys playing and watching sports and spending time on the lake.  He also roasts coffee in his spare time. 

Rev. Stephen Boutell (Steve) is from Louisville, KY, and graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, KY, and Louisville Seminary.  Steve moved to Tennessee in 2019 after 25 years of pastoral ministry in Kentucky.  Steve has served as the Wesley Foundation Director at the University of Louisville, the associate pastor at a large church, on the pastoral staff at a church plant, and as the pastor of churches.

Steve is married to Heather, who is the Director of Financial Aid at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.  

Heather and Steve have two sons.  Jonah (24) is in seminary at Boston University.  Ben (22) graduated from the University of Kentucky this May with a degree in vocal performance.

Steve enjoys football, golf, and almost any sport, although these days he watches more than he plays.

After teaching middle school for 15 years, Rebecca felt the nudge to step into ministry. She began as Director of Children's Ministry at Lebanon FUMC and attended seminary at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Her upbringing and work in Lebanon and in this church have given her strong relationships in our community and a heart for helping our neighbors in need. She enjoys reading, laughing, and being outside in nature. Rebecca is married to Dave and has two children, Hugh and Nola. 

Cori was born and raised in California.  She and her husband, Chris have lived in Lebanon since 2002 and have four children - Mitchell, Cameron, Casey and Maggie.

Cori has worked in the church office since 2013 and enjoys working with the Adult Ministry, planning adult trips, and coordinating monthly Young at Heart luncheons.  Cori has a heart for listening, serving, and loving our congregation here at Lebanon First United Methodist Church.

Lucinda S. Sutton has been a member at Lebanon FUMC since 2011. Despite her history as a self-published author, professional editor, longtime teacher/volunteer, and unabashed fangirl and blogger, many in the community still know her better as Trinity, Micayla, and Jaden's Mom (she is mostly okay with this).  

Lucinda came to us from the United Methodist Publishing House where she had a hand in the creation, development, and editorial work for Cokesbury's 2017-2020 VBS curricula, as well as other pieces for Abingdon Press.  While her professional background also includes work in the fields of marketing, organizational management, operations, and even food service, her calling is now and has always been to serve for the betterment of church life and church work.  For all of this, she is profoundly grateful.

Cori was born and raised in California.  She and her husband, Chris have lived in Lebanon since 2002 and have four children - Mitchell, Cameron, Casey and Maggie.

Cori has worked in the church office since 2013 and enjoys working with the Adult Ministry, planning adult trips, and coordinating monthly Young at Heart luncheons.  Cori has a heart for listening, serving, and loving our congregation here at Lebanon First United Methodist Church.