St. Luke's Pastors

View all Staff by: Ministry | First Name | Last Name | Job Title

Dr. William S. Barnes, Lead Pastor

Bill has been the senior pastor of St. Luke's since June 1992. Since that time St. Luke's has grown to be one of the largest congregations in the denomination, but the most important growth has come in the areas of spiritual maturity and committed discipleship. Bill's vision of a church that is "Building the Kingdom by Building Disciples" while welcoming all with God's love, hope, and healing makes St. Luke's one of the most dynamic, dedicated, and distinctive churches in Central Florida.

A graduate of Emory University, with degrees in Business Administration and Theology, Bill has been a minister in the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church since 1974, having served in rural, urban, and suburban churches, as well as the Chaplain of Florida Southern College. He was a 2002 recipient of the Jefferson Award for American Public Service. Bill is married to Kim, and has two adult daughters, Kristin and Meredith.

The Rev. Beth Farabee-Puckett, Minister of Worship

Beth Farabee-Puckett has served as Associate Pastor at St. Luke's since June of 1999. Beth says, "Ministry here has been a whirlwind of activity filled with meaning and God’s presence is evident in this place! It has been a joy helping to both lead and plan worship services in such a creative atmosphere." She also spends time doing pastoral visitation, pastoral counseling and working with a variety of ministry areas.

She received her Masters of Divinity from Duke University and her undergraduate degree from Florida State University in Elementary Education. Beth is married to Tom, and has a 5 year old daughter Anna Nicole.

The Rev. LeeAnn Inman, Minister of Spiritual Formation

LeeAnn, a native of Orlando, has served as pastor in churches in Illinois and Florida. At St. Luke's, she leads the GUIDE team, with care for the spiritual formation of Christians of all ages.

LeeAnn has served the Florida Annual Conference leading worship at the yearly conference sessions, and leads workshops on Worship as Spiritual Formation and Stewardship as Spiritual Formation.

A graduate of Stetson University, LeeAnn received her theological education at Princeton Theological Seminary and McCormick Theological Seminary. She is currently engaged in a Spiritual Formation certificate program at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. She has written devotions for The Upper Room Disciplines.

She is married to Tom Wilkinson, and is the mother of three adult (almost) children, Carrie, Theo and Simon. LeeAnn enjoys power-walking, reading fiction and poetry, and competitive Scrabble.

The Rev. Gary A. Shockley, Minister of HopeSpring Campus

Gary is the coordinating pastor of our HopeSpring campus. His main responsibilities include preaching on Sunday mornings, developing mission and ministry teams, and representing St. Luke’s in the western part of Orange County.

Prior to coming to central Florida Gary was a church-planting pastor in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. This year Gary celebrates over thirty years of pastoral service (he began at the age of 18) in a variety of ministry settings. Gary had felt called to church planting most of those years and only in the past ten years has been able to exercise that calling and passion through HopeSpring and his prior church appointment.

Gary enjoys writing (he has now authored two books through Alban Publishing www.garyshockley.com) ; oil painting; fly-fishing; and good strong coffee!

Gary is married to Kim and together have two sons, Aaron and Jake.

Dr. David Stephens, Minister of Nurture and Church Growth

Dr. David E. Stephens came to St. Luke’s in 1988 and serves as the Minister of Nurture. Nurture is one of St. Luke’s Essential ministry commitments, and it involves congregational care, the building of Christian friendship and support, and a sense of genuine Christian concern.

David has general oversight of the congregational care ministries which includes the St. Luke’s Counseling Center, Hospital and Home visitation, Crisis support, Grief and funeral support, Grief recovery, Stephen Ministry, Divorce Recovery, Wellness Ministries, and others. He liaisons with Spiritual Formation, teaches regularly, and helps with Worship.

David is a graduate of Stetson University, and has a Masters of Divinity degree and Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

David and his Wife Marca have four daughters and five grandchildren. They enjoy team teaching and often use the “Companions in Christ” materials that focus on both Christian friendship and spiritual growth. They also enjoy movies and game nights with friends. David loves to bike, swim, and run, and often organizes bike outings for small groups.

The Rev. Jennifer Stiles-Williams, Minister of Relational Evangelism

Jenn is a native of Florida and was born and raised in the United Methodist Church. As the Minister of Relational Evangelism at St. Luke’s, she oversees the REACH mission essential and all of the REACH ministries including School of the Arts, Recreation Ministries and the Child Development Center.

Jenn received a major in sociology and minor in psychology at Wesleyan College, a UM women’s college in Macon, Ga and attended Candler School of Theology at Emory University for her Masters of Divinity. She began working in UM church as a youth director in her senior year of high school and has worked in youth, children and program ministry and has served as pastor in charge and associate pastor in churches in both Georgia and Florida. Her spiritual gifts include leadership, teaching and evangelism and her passion is helping make sure the church works! Her role at St. Luke’s is to coordinate events and opportunities for St. Luke’s to reach into the community and introduce people to the love, grace, mercy and acceptance found in the Body of Christ. She also preaches Contemporary Worship at the Central Campus.

Jenn is married to John Stiles Williams, who is works at a local elementary school. They have three children Grace, Caroline and Sam. As a family they love Disney, Georgia Bulldogs and anything to do with the water.