Reverend Ryan Bennett was appointed to Bethlehem United Methodist Church by Bishop Richard Wills at the June 2009 annual meeting of the Tennessee Conference of The United Methodist Church.

 

Ryan was born in Milton, Florida while his Dad was in the navy but moved back to Cookeville, Tn – where his Dad was born – when he was one. He graduated from Cookeville High School in 1991 and The University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1996 where he received a bachelor of science in Education. Ryan recognized a call to ministry while participating in a Disciple Bible Study course in 1997. He began serving at Crossville First United Methodist Church in January, 1998 as the Director of Youth Ministries. In 2000, Ryan began Asbury Theological Seminary, commuting 180 miles each way every week to attend Seminary while still serving Crossville, TN. It was in Crossville where Ryan met his wife, Heather. They were married in June of 1999. Ryan became appointed by the bishop as an associate pastor at Crossville First UMC in 2002. In August of 2003, just before beginning his last semester of Seminary, Ryan and Heather were asked to move to Pleasant View where they served until coming to Bethlehem.

 

Ryan has a passion for making living a life of faith fun. He incorporates his interests and skills in unique ways to draw people in to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. He serves as Director of Faith Nights for the Nashville Sounds, which are pre-game Christian events with music, a testimony from a Sounds player and a preached word from Ryan. Faith Nights serve almost 4000 churches a year. He started a golf league that begins with a time of prayer and devotion each week to a league that averages almost fifty people, representing over 20 different churches. He also tries to incorporate creative ideas into worship and all other areas of the church. After all, serving God should provide the most joy in life.

 

In his free time, Ryan enjoys playing golf and softball, going to the lake, traveling, spending time with family, and loving on people. His wife Heather works for United Methodist Communications in Nashville where she works with the Central Conference Communications Initiative that helps strengthen the church in Africa, Europe, and part of Asia. They adopted Tyler in September, 2009 through Miriam's Promise and are enjoying the being new parents.

 

Ryan will answer to literally whatever you call him and are comfortable calling him, but he prefers just plain old “Ryan.” Ryan cannot wait to see all that God has in store for the people called Bethlehem UMC.