our Team
Rev. Dr. Dave Benson
Lead Minister
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Dave was appointed lead Pastor of Hickory Flat in July of 2021 after serving in several other UMC churches across North Georgia. He is a 1996 graduate of Candler School of Theology, where he received the John Owen Smith Preaching Award for his class. In 2006, Dave completed his Doctor of Ministry at the United Methodist seminary at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.
Dave has a passion for building community and helping people discover, develop and live out their ministry in the local church.
He lives in Holly Springs with his wife Theresa, his mother-in-law Esther and a small cat named Zoe.
Dave has many hobbies and interests, including videography and digital art, playing mandolin in a bluegrass band, and traveling with Theresa.
The Bensons have two grown children. A son Chris, a chef and restaurateur who lives with his wife, Emily, in Asheville, NC, and a daughter Anna, a nurse who lives with her husband, Alex, in Buckhead.
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Nick Yother
Executive Pastor
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Nick is a born and raised Georgia boy who is blessed daily by his lovely wife Rachel and two creative and fun daughters Olivia and Finleigh. Nick graduated from Reinhardt University and has worked in professional ministry for 13 years. Nick has always been a fan of sports and his favorite teams include the Atlanta Braves, Georgia Bulldogs, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, and Atlanta Hawks. One of the reasons Nick has always loved sports is because he has always loved being a part of a team and watching everyone use their gifts for the greater good of the team. This is the same passion that drives Nick’s ministry as he wants to help people understand that a successful team beats with one heart. With Christ as the heartbeat, we were all created to be on this team and use our gifts to further His kingdom. Nick’s favorite bible verse is Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, then who can be against us.”
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Nichole Hall
Minister to Children
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Born and raised in North Carolina, Nichole graduated from Gardner-Webb University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics Education. She taught public high school for nine years before transitioning into Product Management for a K-5 mathematics program. Nichole and her husband, Patrick, now reside in Canton with their two girls, Riley and Amelia.
Since relocating to Georgia, Nichole has been a stay at home mom as well as an Assistant Preschool Teacher at HFUMC for three years. She was also very active at their previous church with VBS, Sunday School, and MOPS. God has led her to this new path in her life and is grateful to be able to work with so many wonderful families.
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Sarah Roberts
Minister to Youth
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Sarah Roberts graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2014 with a Bachelor's Degree in Human Services. She has a deep passion for helping others find their passions and teaching that anyone can make a difference. Sarah has a long history of serving youth through the Vida Nueva and Tres Dias community, leading small groups and facilitating young adult groups. She enjoys being able to bring that spirit of community and serving to the youth at Hickory Flat.
When she's not at the church, Sarah can be found spending time with family and friends, re-watching her favorite Marvel movies, finding a new cookie recipe, or getting in couch snuggles with her dog, Jack Bauer.
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Nick Bowker
Director of Production and Communications
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Nick was born, raised, and currently resides in Canton, GA. Nick was raised at Hickory Flat Church. He graduated from Creekview High School. He has years of broadcast experience under his belt from working with local television studios in the North Georgia area, filming and directing high school sports and working as a freelance artist for national news organizations and live events.
Nick is honored to be able to Serve the Lord in helping Hickory Flat Church start and grow a Production Team. His Hobbies include: Film, Photography and hanging out with friends in his spare time.
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Melanie Williams
Worship Leader
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Melanie is a native Atlantan. She graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in Music Education and from Lee University with a Master of Church Music degree. Melanie taught music for elementary and middle school students in Cobb County for 14 years. In those 14 years she led many performance groups in formal concerts as well as musicals. She is the Worship Leader at Hickory Flat Church and leads the Adult Choir and handbell group. Melanie is also on staff at Reinhardt University as a collaborative accompanist in the School of Music. Melanie accepted Jesus as her Savior when she was six years old. Through years of great Bible teaching and growth in the Lord, she has Jesus in the center of her life now and forever. She and her husband Kenny live in Canton. They have three children and seven grandchildren along with Bhindi, their pup.
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Connie Klements
Nursery Coordinator
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Connie is married to Scott and they have two daughters, Margaret and Lydia. Connie and her family have worshipped and served at Hickory Flat Church since 2003. Connie began her service as Nursery Coordinator as a volunteer. After months of outstanding volunteer service, she was invited to join our staff in 2006. Connie holds a graduate degree from Georgia State University in Community Counseling and thoroughly enjoys working with children and families.
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Bob Coxe
Lead Production Tech / Bassist​
Bob was born in Thunderbolt, Ga and lived there for about a minute and half. During the next several years he moved to Plattsburgh (NY), Orlando (Fl), Grand Forks (ND), Woodbridge (VA), Ramstein Germany and finally moving to Lake City (Fl) when he was in 8th Grade.
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After graduating from Columbia High School in Lake City, he joined the Air Force serving four (4) years with the majority of that time spent at RAF Alconbury in England.
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After this tour of duty, he attended the University Of Florida [Go Gators] graduating with a BS in Electrical Engineering (June 1985).
Upon Graduation he joined Kimberly-Clark Corp starting at the office in Roswell, Ga. He worked in Roswell for 1.5 years then moved to Ogden, Utah to work at a Diaper facility providing Controls and Drives engineering support for the diaper manufacturing processes. In 1991, he returned to the Roswell Office, working there until he retired in October of 2018.
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While working at Kimberly-Clark he had the opportunity to support processes in seven (7) states and ten (10) countries. This provided an opportunity to meet many interesting people from different cultures, always learning something new.
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Patty and Bob moved to the Woodstock area in April of 2001 and started attending HFUMC in August of 2001. In 2002, he started playing Bass regularly with the Praise Team and occasionally with the Traditional Choir. This opportunity has been an honor and blessing.
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In 2009, Bob started assisting with Audio and in 2015 he started assisting with Media. Both of these items have offered a continuing learning opportunity.
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David Williams
Production Tech and Communications
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David provides assistance in both Production and Communications. David attended Chattahoochee Tech and received an associates in both programming and television production. David works not only with us but as a professional in the video production field and has experience training individuals as well as having experience with the entire creative process that goes into video production. David enjoys spending time with friends and watching movies in his free time.
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David started volunteering at Hickory Flat Church in 2020 amidst the pandemic and has been with us since. David was hired at the beginning of 2022.
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