Church StaffSenior Pastor: Gary E. Mueller Email me at gmueller@firstmethodistplano.org.
Associate Pastor: Holly Bandel Email me at hbandel@firstmethodistplano.org.
Associate Pastor of Hispanic Ministry: David Gonzalez Email me at dgonzalez@firstmethodistplano.org.
Associate Pastor: Alice Coder Email me at acoder@firstmethodistplano.org.
Associate Pastor: Sharon Welch Email me at swelch@firstmethodistplano.org.
Minister of Adult Education: Mark Lucke Email me at mlucke@firstmethodistplano.org.
Weekday Program Director: Donna Kirkwood Email me at dkirkwood@firstmethodistplano.org.
Minister with Senior Adults: Dale Swain Email me at dswain@firstmethodistplano.org.
Dale's ministry has taken him from the Panhandle of Texas to the Central Texas region. His first pastorate was Lela - Dozier - Heald charge near Shamrock, Texas. During Annual Conference, a tornado unroofed the Heald Church, some might say it was the windy young preacher. Dale came to First United Methodist Plano in October of 2000. He has been out of the active ministry for some years. Dale took retirement connection in 1996. He is enjoying his relationship with First Plano very much. Dale was born in Akron, Ohio and served in the U.S. Air Force for three years, nine months and seven days during the Korean Conflict. Dale has an under graduate degree from West Texas State, now A. & M. He earned his Bachelor of Divinity Degree, now a Master of Sacred Theology, from Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University. Dale has three children by his first wife. They have blessed him with four Grandchildren, one of whom is serving in the Navy. Dale and his wife, Mary, were married in June 2001. They live in the White Rock Lake area of Dallas. May God bless his ministry here at First Church.
Minister of Music: Chris Caffee Email me at ccaffee@firstmethodistplano.org.
Church Administrator: Dave Roberson Email me at droberson@firstmethodistplano.org.
David was born and raised in Wisconsin. He was educated in accounting at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and studied for the CPA exam with International Accountants Society. After holding accounting and procurement management positions for several years, David got tired of shoveling snow and moved to Texas where he met his wife, Ruth. David has held a variety of management positions in diverse companies while in Texas. After receiving training as a Microsoft Certified System Engineer at SMU, he was employed by Baylor Hospital Systems as Manager of Financial Services Support Center implementing new financial software. David feels blessed that his three children also decided to leave the snow behind and live close to him. David and Ruth are mastering the art of spoiling their grandchildren. David participates in Methodist Men, Chancel Choir and Stephen Ministry.
Director of Communication: Liz Applegate Email me at lapplegate@firstmethodistplano.org.
Senior Pastor's Assistant: Cathy Martin Email me at cmartin@firstmethodistplano.org.
Born and raised in Monroeville, Pennsylvania Cathy has lived in Germany, Massachusetts, Arizona, Virginia and moved to the Dallas area in 1973. Cathy's career in Human Resources took her to Virginia in 1994 and ultimately back to Pennsylvania. After spending the last eight years downsizing and closing offices she felt it was time to get out of Human Resources and upon the birth of her first grandchild move back to Texas where she raised her two daughters. Cathy feels blessed to be working in such a caring environment and is happy to be part of the FUMC Plano staff. Aside from spoiling her grandson she is an avid reader and yes, a Pittsburgh Steeler fan.
Administrative Staff: Peggy Finkel Email me at pfinkel@firstmethodistplano.org.
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Gary was born in Pennsylvania and spent most of his growing up years in Kansas. After receiving his B.A. from the University of Kansas in political science and psychology, he graduated from Perkins School of Theology. He pastored churches in Richardson, Clarksville, Trophy Club and Denton and served as the Conference Council Director for the North Texas Conference before being appointed to First United Methodist Church in June 2002. Gary is married to Wink, who retired at a young age after selling her two successful flower shops. Wink and Gary are parents to two University of Texas Students Hailey and Nick. He enjoys gardening, playing golf, reading and spending time with his wonderful family. Gary is privileged to be part of a church in which God has planted such an exciting vision for the future and looks forward to being here for many years.
David was born in Mexico City, Mexico where he was a high school teacher and served as a minister in various Methodist churches. He and his family have now lived in Dallas for more than seven years. David's Spanish-speaking congregation has grown from 4 persons to currently number about 60. His parishioners are natives of Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Salvador ...and with his occasional Anglo visitors he considers his congregation truly "international." David is a full-time teacher's aide with Dallas Independent School District and devotes one workday and one weekend each week to his congregation in addition to home and hospital visitation as necessary. David is taking classes at, and wants to eventually get his Master of Divinity degree from SMU. David and his wife Teresa are proud of their three children: Rodrigo (16) and a fine musician, Abraham (15) and Yared (9).
Alice, a native of North Carolina, has lived in Texas since graduating from Vanderbilt University in 1974. She was an active volunteer and 'home executive' until answering God's call to ordained ministry in 1998. After graduating from Perkins School of Theology in 2002, she served as Associate Pastor at First UMC Garland as Adult Ministry coordinator and staff liaison for Stephen Ministries. She was commissioned in 2004 and appointed to Arapaho UMC where she provided leadership in the Evangelism, Missions, Congregational Care, and Communications committees as well as teaching, preaching, and worship leadership. Alice also serves as a member of the Dismantling Racism Team and the Ecumenical Ministries Team of the North Texas Conference. Alice and her husband Gary have two adult daughters, Katherine and Ellinor, and one son, Christopher, who is in high school. In her spare time, Alice enjoys reading, gardening, and going to the movies.
Sharon Welch is a part-time, Local Pastor in the United Methodist Church and has been a member of First United Methodist Church, Plano for 20 years. She served as an associate pastor at Copeville UMC for three years with her husband, Stanley, before coming back to First Church Plano to serve as a pastor. Prior to entering the ministry in 1998, Sharon taught at Plano East Senior High School where she continues to teach psychology. She has taught for 30 years, serving briefly as an elementary school counselor. Sharon graduated from Texas Woman's University in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in English and history. She received her Master's degree in counseling from the University of North Texas in 1976 and received her teaching certification in psychology from UTD in 1987. Sharon is an avid reader and enjoys going to the movies, especially to see science fiction films. Sharon has one son, David, who is married to Allison and they have three children, Christian (7 years), Mac (4 years), and Witt (1 year). Sharon spends all her spare time playing with her adorable grandchildren.
Mark is a native Texan and has been on the staff of FUMC since 1988. He received a BA in Organ Performance at Texas Lutheran University and a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN. Mark served as a Lutheran pastor for six years before seeing the error of his ways and joining the ministry team at First Plano. He came to Dallas in 1988 to pursue doctoral study in Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University and may some day actually finish his dissertation. Mark served as Associate Director of Music for many years at First Church and is now the Adult Ministries director. His wife is a risk director for the Dallas County units of Child Protective Service. He has two sons and a daughter. When he's not writing checks to universities, Mark enjoys following his favorite pro sports teams (go Cowboys!), reading, playing the piano, and tinkering with expensive electronic toys.
Donna has been working with children since she was in high school as a teachers aid, nanny, preschool and after school teacher, and a child care center director. She has a Ph.D. in Child Development from Texas Woman's University. Donna teaches classes in Child Development and Psychology at Texas Woman's University, Collin County Community College, and Eastfield College and enjoys presenting at local, state and national conferences. Donna's idea of fun is spending a day with her nieces and nephews and relaxing at home with her 2 cats.
Chris grew up at First United Methodist Church, Allen and graduated from Allen High School. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education with a double major in Choral Conducting & Voice from Texas A&M—Commerce and has done graduate work at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology and is a Certified Minister of Music in the North Texas Conference. He worked in high school choral music programs in Paris and Greenville, TX and served churches in Wolfe City, Cooper, Winnsboro, Greenville, and Marshall, TX and in Lake Charles, LA. Before coming to First Plano, Chris was Minister of Music for twelve years at First United Methodist Church in Garland. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Dallas Chapter of Choristers Guild and is President of the Great Dallas Handbell Association as well as serving as Director of the North Texas Conference Youth Choir Camp at Bridgeport. Chris’s wife Terri is a fourth grade teacher at Good Shepherd Episcopal School in Dallas and they have three children—Cameron, Chelsea, and Callie. The Caffees are excited to be a part of the First Church Plano family.
Liz has been a member of First Church Plano since 1997 and came to work at the church in 1998. Liz is the proud mother of 3 active teenage boys, a proud stepmother to a grown daughter and son, and is married to a wonderful man, Ken, who she met at First Church Plano. Because of the many connections with First Plano, Liz feels very fortunate to work for a loving congregation and blessed to be part of a church family. She and Ken have enjoyed many adventures together, such as volunteering, sailing lessons, cooking lessons, snorkeling, rock climbing and dance lessons. In her spare time, Liz enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading, working in the yard, and walking quietly down a sunlit beach on Caye Caulker, Belize.
Peggy was born and raised in Connecticut, but has lived in the Dallas area since 1982. She previously worked for The Reformed Church in Plano where she served for more than 6 years as Administrative Assistant. Her work experience also has been as second grade teacher and then substitute teacher while raising two sons. Peggy worked most recently for the McKinney Chamber of Commerce, and is happy to be back in a church office environment. She feels blessed to be a part of such a caring and friendly staff. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, and spending time with her two grown sons, daughters-in-law and two young granddaugters.