In June 2002, Bishop William Hutchinson appointed Dr. A.
Wayne Evans as
pastor of Grace UMC. Dr. Evans and wife Renee moved into the
parsonage
on Tuesday, 11th June 2002.
Dr. Evans came to Grace after serving as pastor of First United
Methodist Church of Arcadia, Louisiana. Since his arrival at
Grace the
congregation has planned and built the Christian Life Center, started
One Way Contemporary Worship, and initiated Epiphany Ministry to reach
teenagers at Swanson Correctional Center. He is secretary of the
Board
of Directors for the five-parish area DART, the Domestic Abuse
Resistance Team. He previously ministered in Arcadia, Shreveport,
Mansfield, Amite, and Lafayette.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Louisiana at Monroe,
Master of Divinity from Duke University, and Doctor of Ministry from
Drew University. He enjoys working out at the fitness center and
genealogy. His parents are Rev. James O. and Dorothy Evans of
Ruston
who own Evans Eden Fruit Farm. Even though his dad is from
Ruston,
this PK (preacher's kid) has never lived here. Bro. Wayne was married
for nine years to the late Rev. Pearl Whichard Evans until her death in
1984.
Grace's First Lady is the former Renee Hoff of Lafayette. She is
a the
Monroe District Missioner, resourcing United Methodist congregations in
northeast Louisiana. She is a certified Lay Speaker and
previously
served as Director of Children's Ministries at Lakeview UMC in
Shreveport and at First UMC of Arcadia. She enjoys
flower gardening
and flea marketing. She completed the certification studies
in
Christian Education at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist
University in 2003.
The Evans' have four
adult children: Rebecca Bird (and her husband
Riley) of Haughton, Ben Fuller attending La. Tech University, Kirk
Evans (attending graduate school at the University of Chicago), and
Blake Evans who is working in West Monroe.
