Athens First United Methodist Church
327 North Lumpkin Street - Athens, Georgia 30601 - Phone: 706-543-1442 - Fax: 706-546-4797

 
 
   

Music Ministry Team

 
 
 
 
 
       

 

Stephen Mitchell, Director of Music Ministries


smitchell@athensfirstumc.org
Stephen W. Mitchell is currently Director of Music Ministries at Athens First United Methodist Church, Athens, Georgia, where he oversees an extensive choral, instrumental and handbell program for all ages.

Prior to coming to Athens, Stephen was Director of Music at Trinity United Methodist Church in Birmingham Alabama. A native of Pensacola, Florida, Stephen holds a B.A. in Music from Birmingham-Southern College. From 1992-1996, Stephen was a Choral Scholar at Wells Cathedral in Well, England, where he sang daily choral evensong in the choir of men and boys. In addition, the choir toured France, Germany and Brazil, made several recordings and performed live for TV and radio broadcasts.

Stephen is in his second year as Director of the Athens Choral Society- a group he has expanded from 35 to 85 singers.  He is also Southeastern Jurisdictional Representative for the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. Stephen is number five in a family of six kids. In his free time he likes the outdoors, the beach, traveling and working on his loft - a converted church!

 

 

 
   

 

Carol Reeves, Director of Children's Music
creeves@athensfirstumc.org
Carol Reeves is Director of Children’s Music at Athens First United Methodist Church. Carol holds a Masters of Music Education from the University of Georgia and a Bachelors of Science in Music Education from Auburn University. She has over twenty-five years experience in directing children’s choirs and teaching music to children in schools and churches in Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. She possesses a keen interest in early childhood music, and specifically the child’s singing voice.

 

Carol has received specialized training in early childhood music education and is trained and licensed in both Musikgarten and Kindermusik curricula. She has studied with prominent children’s choral clinicians including Henry Leck and Martha Shaw.

 

Carol has been a clinician for the younger elementary children’s choir for Music and Arts Week at Lake Junaluska, NC sponsored by the Fellowship of United Methodist Music and Worship Arts. In addition, she is a member of the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Choristers Guild, Fellowship of United Methodist Music and Worship Arts (FUMMWA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), and Northeast Georgia Chapter of The American Guild of Organists.

 

 

Janis Maxwell, Associate Director of Music
janis@athensfirstumc.org

 

Janis Maxwell is the Associate Director of Music Ministries at Athens First United Methodist Church. She has been on the music staff here since 1998, serving in a multitude of capacities including accompanist, organist, and choral and handbell director. In addition, she served on the Interim Team for Director of Music Ministries from December 1999 until July 2001.

 

Currently, Janis directs the Wesleyan Youth Choir, Ladies First! Chorus, and the Celebrate Chimes. She accompanies, along with Mary Ann Fitzgerald, the Sanctuary Choir and three worship services each Sunday. Janis also serves as the coordinator for First Light, the acolyte program at Athens First, supervising 45 youth acolytes for three weekly services.

 

Janis holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music (Organ) from the University of Georgia, and the Associates Degree in Piano Performance from Anderson College, Anderson, South Carolina. While studying at the University of Georgia, , she was a recipient of the James M. Barnett, Jr. Foundation Scholarship. She is a member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the Fellowship of United Methodist Music and Worship Arts (FUMMWA), Choristers Guild, and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). She and her husband Mark have three children: Rush (13), Morgan (11), and Brooks (8).

 

 

Jason Bennett , Staff Accompanist

Jason Bennett grew up in Athens and studied piano first with Margaret Shettel and then with Joey Hokayem. He attended the University of Georgia on a piano performance scholarship and studied piano with Dr. Martha Thomas and voice with Dr. Gregory Broughton. After graduating from UGA in 1996 with an A.B. in political science, he earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2000. Although he is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, he no longer practices law and has been teaching private piano and music theory lessons in Athens for the past five years. He is currently working on a degree in music at the University of Georgia and conducts the Concordia Chamber Choir.