Jeff Coppley
Senior Pastor

I became Youth Director and Associate Pastor at Bethpage United Methodist Church in 2004. I am a graduate of Appalachian State University and am currently enrolled at Duke Divinity School in the Course of Study program. My wife Valerie and I were high school sweethearts and were married in 1986. We have two children. Our daughter Jordan attends Appalachian State University and our son Jonathan attends R. Brown McAllister Elementary School. I was born in Concord and have spent most of my life in Concord and Kannapolis. My ministry at Bethpage has been a blessing to me through serving Christ and the people of the church. I am proud to be a part of such a loving church that reaches out to the community.If you are looking for a church, I would like to personally invite you to worship with us here at Bethpage.

I feel very fortunate to work in a job that allows me to connect with so many people and share God’s message through music. After receiving my BM and MM degrees in music I performed extensively as a bass trombonist. As an ensemble musician I performed regularly with North Carolina and Charlotte Symphonies and with artists Art Garfunkel, Leonard Slatkin, Itzhak Perlman, James Galway, and others. I also performed on the CD released by Augsburg Fortress Press with the hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship. As a touring/recording soloist I hold an artist endorsement from Conn-Selmer Corporation. I currently teach music at Gardner-Webb and Furman Universities. After feeling led to music ministry I took a choir director position in Concord, before becoming Director of Music Ministries at Bethpage in 2009. In addition to my training in instrumental music I am also a trained vocalist.

My wife Maegan and I reside about a mile from the church and we baptized our son Mason at Bethpage this year. I am a Master Gardener volunteer and enjoy landscaping our yard or working in our garden. We live with 7 furry critters on our mini-farm.

I've been employed at Bethpage since Jan. 1997 in the most satisfing job I can imagine. Through children's ministries, I experience the joy of sharing Bible stories and watching kids mature and grow into adults. As an adult Christian educator, I share in the excitement as disciples mature in spirit and truth through Bible study. As a Stephen leader, I am awed as I watch ministers use their training to care for hurting adults. As an administrator, I have the satisfaction of watching volunteers leaders experience the joy of success because they have responded to the call of God.

I've been married for 32 years to Mike Kennedy. Together we have raised a son, Adam and a daughter, Haley. We are currently enjoying a 6-year-old grandson, Ashton and an impossible Scottish terrier, Fred.

Life has had plenty of ups, downs and hair-pin turns, but I thank God for a great ride.

I feel so special to be a part of the Footprints Christian Academy and Bethpage UMC family! We are in our 10th year of operation at Footprints and our vision is to "impact the World for Christ...one child at a time" and our goal is to give Christ to every child that enters our doors. I love to watch our little people as they develop in mind, heart & spirit and all with such an abundance of innocence. I love following the progress of our students as they enter elementary and some now even in Middle School and I always pray they will remember the one thing we always tried to instill into each one of them...."that they will never be alone, no matter where they are in life - that Jesus will always be right there by their side!"

I have been married to my wonderful husband, Eric for 16 years and we are blessed with a beautiful 13 year old daughter, Peyton. (She is a Footprints Christian Academy alumni!) We have 2 dogs, 4 goats, 20 chickens and a very outgoing rooster named Rocky. I AM BLESSED!

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of clothes I wore, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child". (Author Unknown)

Lisa Brown

Pianist

Dorris Holloway

Organist