Leadership

PALMS CHURCH

Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Walker

Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. Thomas Walker, Pastor, and Head of Staff was born and adopted in Raleigh, North Carolina. He grew up in the Presbyterian church. Tom studied biology at Davidson College, received his M.Div. at Columbia Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in Old Testament Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. Tom has served local congregations and taught in seminaries. He has a deep passion for local congregations learning about their faith by exploring biblical texts, theological themes, and their own journeys. Tom and his wife, Jan live in Ponte Vedra Beach and have two sons, Worth and Chris. Worth is a graduate of Wake Forest, and Chris is attending the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida.

Rev. Laurie Furr-Vancini

Associate Pastor

Rev. Laurie Furr-Vancini is a native of North Florida. She grew up in Gainesville and then Macclenny, Florida, and is a graduate of Baker County High School. Following high school, Laurie attended Wake Forest University earning a B.A. with double majors in Religion and Sociology. She earned an M.A.Ed. from Virginia Tech. Upon leaving Virginia Tech, Laurie worked in the Housing and Student Activities offices at Georgia Tech, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Georgia Baptist College of Nursing. Laurie attended Candler School of Theology at Emory and Columbia Theological Seminary, earned an M.Div. and was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament, PC(USA) in October 1999. Laurie is married to Jeff, and they have three children: Charlie, Sam, and Abbie. Laurie enjoys her book club, working out and traveling.

Rev. Dr. Holly Inglis

Associate Pastor for Community & Connection

Holly spent seven years serving as Church Educator at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado. Before that, she served for 15 years in several churches as Director of Education Ministries in Indiana and Colorado. Her first ministry experience was as a co-pastor of Sugar Plain Friends Meeting in Indiana. Holly graduated with a Masters of Divinity from Earlham School of Religion as a Recorded Quaker Pastor in the 80’s. More recently in she earned her Doctorate of Education Ministry in 2012 from…you guessed it, Columbia Theological Seminary! Holly has served in, and been the moderator of, several Presbytery-wide committees and has been extremely active in the extra-curricular work of her local church communities. She has led many workshops at the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators Annual Conference over the last decade and was a keynote speaker at the 2015 conference. Of particular note is that she is a published author, penning the book “Sticky Learning: How Neuroscience Supports Teaching That’s Remembered.”

Rev. Jenn Green

Director of Faith Formation & Nurture

Rev. Jenn Green grew up in Arizona and moved to Colorado after graduating from Northern Arizona University with a B.A. in psychology. She discerned her call to ministry in the United Church of Christ and received an M. Div. with an emphasis in children and family ministry from Bethel Seminary. After serving in several congregations in Colorado, she moved to Jacksonville three years ago to serve as Associate Pastor of a local church. She is a trained Godly Play specialist and has a passion for nurturing spiritual growth in disciples of all ages. Jenn has two teenage sons, Ryan and Jonah, and two four legged babies, Peanut and Buddy. She loves the beach, reading, and all things Disney!

Bob Kyte

Older Adult Ministry Coordinator

Bob is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. He received his BA in Theater from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and a M. Div. from Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He served as pastor of five UCC congregations in Massachusetts and one in New Hampshire. Bob was a leader in area ecumenical and interfaith groups and events including a Jewish-Christian tour of Israel. Upon retirement in 2013, Bob and his wife Steffie moved to Nocatee. From 2015-2016, Bob served as supply pastor at New Vision UCC, a small progressive church in Yulee, FL. Bob and Steffie enjoy biking and walks on the beach…and enjoying the Florida sun! Their four adult children, spouses and six grandchildren live in Oregon, California, Kentucky and Rhode Island. All enjoy their visits in Florida. Bob and Steffie began attending and enjoying life at Palms in January 2017.

Dr. Ronn Cummings

Director of Music and Fine Arts

Born and raised in Minnesota, Ronn holds degrees in piano performance and conducting from The University of Wisconsin, Southern Methodist University and The University of North Texas College of Music. He studied conducting with Joseph Hawthorne, Elizabeth Green, Murry Sidlin (Aspen School of Music), Herbert Blomstedt and Anshel Brusilow. In 1997 he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of North Texas and subsequently joined the faculty of UNT where he served as Assistant Director of Orchestras, conducting the UNT Chamber Orchestra and teaching conducting. In 2000, he accepted a position as Director of Orchestral Studies at The University of Akron where he led the University Symphony Orchestra and taught music history, conducting and orchestration. While in Ohio he also served as Director of Music at The First Congregational Church of Hudson. In 2004, Dr. Cummings was appointed as Director of Music and Fine Arts at Palms.

Tina Warner

Director of Communications

A native of Jacksonville, Tina grew up in Julington Creek and is a graduate of Bishop Kenny High School. Following high school, she attended Florida State University earning a B.S. in Communication and English. Having worked in both the corporate and non-profit sectors of the communications industry for the past 19 years, she believes that communication is both an art form and a ministry. Tina is a daughter, sister, aunt, friend and most importantly, the proud mother of daughter, Gracie. In her spare time, you'll most likely find her hanging out with family and friends, baking, and sharing her love of photography with those around her.

Lori Vaughn

Church Business Director

Lori Vaughn moved to Jacksonville in the fall of 2016 from central Nebraska where she grew up on a cattle ranch. Using her degree in Nonprofit Management with an Accounting Emphasis, Lori worked for a large church in Nebraska as their business manager for 22 years. Family and fantastic weather motivated Lori and her husband Steve to relocate to the Jacksonville area. She has two grown children; Amy, a Coast Guard officer who lives in Jacksonville, and Andy, a computer engineer, living in Toronto with his wife Josie. Lori enjoys spending time with family, reading, watching college football and volleyball (especially the Huskers), volunteering, and walking her pug dogs, Porky and Petunia.

Lauren Lee

Director of Palms Preschool & Childcare Center

For the past 10 years, Lauren Lee has been navigating the world of elementary and early childhood education as a teacher, student, administrator, and mom. In 2010, she graduated from the University of North Florida with her M.Ed. in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Literacy. Lauren then completed her Ed. S. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Florida, with a focus on Language Arts and Children’s Literature. Most recently, Lauren served as Director for The Salvation Army Child Development Center in Jacksonville. She sits on the Duval Early Learning Directors Network Board, is an author of numerous articles and a nationally recognized presenter on early childhood literacy.

Jimmy Steele

Youth Coordinator

Although not a “native Floridian,” Jimmy considers himself “close enough.” He grew up in Winter Haven where he would later teach middle school for seven years. Prior to coming to Palms, he served churches in Orlando, Fort Myers Beach, Lakeland, and Winter Haven. He is an ordained ruling elder in the PCUSA, has served on leadership teams for the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators, and Presbyterian Youth Worker’s Association, and has been active in presbytery ministries wherever he has served. As a former Camp Board of Directors member, Jimmy felt his call to full time ministry while serving as a summer camp worship leader. Triennium, Montreat, Cedarkirk, and the mountains of Vermont are just a few of his favorite places to experience God’s presence. In addition to his love of the ministry, he loves sports, going on retreats with students, “playing golf”, visiting his family, and traveling. Jimmy is married to Katie and they have a daughter Hadley, and a cat Ginger.