Billy Echols-Richter - Pastor
billy@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 512

Billy was appointed as the first pastor of Grace Avenue UMC in April 1999. He served as the Pastor as the congregation grew from 15 members to over 1500 members.

Billy became a candidate for ordained ministry straight out of high school in 1977.  He attended Southwestern University for his undergraduate degree and Perkins School of Theology for a Master of Divinity degree.  His first assignments were First UMC in Temple, Texas and Trinity UMC in Arlington, Texas. He served as Associate Pastor at Kingwood UMC and at St. Andrew UMC in Plano, Texas and as the SFA Wesley Foundation Director. He has been an active Annual Conference Committee member since 2008, serving on numerous different committees. read more »

Laura Echols-Richter - Program Minister
laura@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 506

Laura has been with Grace Avenue UMC, serving as the Program Minister, since its start in 1999. She was licensed as a local pastor while serving as the Program Minister at Grace Avenue.

She has served as a full-time lay professional at:
  •  Christ UMC, Plano TX   1985-1987 - Youth Minister
  •  Klein UMC, Klein  TX  1987-1989 - Youth Minister
  •  FUMC, Bremen GA  1989-1990 - Youth Minister
  •  St. Andrew UMC, Plano 1990-1999 - Adult & Family Ministries
read more »

Joyce Cravens - Senior Adult Minister
joyce@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 509

Joyce graduated form the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, in 1994. She received her Masters of Divinity at SMU in 1998. She worked for Caterpillar from 1966 to 1993 at Darr Equipment in Irving as well as in Wichita Falls, Fort Worth, Longview and Tyler. God called her to ordained ministry in February, 1991, at Camp Bridgeport in Kiker Hall in the Fireplace Room. Ten years later in 2001, she was ordained an Elder in the North Texas Conference.

She retired as of 2011 but God was not retiring her. She now works at Grace Avenue UMC as the Senior Adult Minister. read more »

Merri Nelson - Business Administrator
merri@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 505

Merri has been working in church administration for the last 11 years.  She comes from a background of quick service restaurant management. She believes that type of work was crucial to her career as a church administrator.  The foundations of quality, service, and cleanliness translate quite well into congregational care, worship preparation, and facility management

She is responsible for the daily business operations and facilities management.  This means processing all accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, payroll taxes, financial reporting, contributions. read more »

Kristen Lane - Children's Minister
kristen@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 508

Kristen has worked full time in church ministry since 1995 and been involved in church work since 1992. As Children's Minister, she is involved with children from birth through 5th grade. She organizes and oversees all activities involving the children.

She has worked in ministry at Trinity UMC in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Putnam City UMC in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, St. Paul’s UMC in El Paso, Texas and New World UMC in Arlington, Texas.

Her passion is children!  read more »

Dana Boone - Children's Ministry Assistant
dana@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext.508

Dana has worked at Grace Avenue since 2002. She has served as a Rainbow Corner Teacher and as Child Care Coordinator.

She is currently serving as the Children's Ministry Assistant and her responsibilities include overseeing the child care and child care staff of Grace Avenue. She also assists in any way needed for the Children's Ministry Department.

Her passion at Grace Avenue is to share God's love with the children and youth through laughter, love, and compassion. read more »

Laurie Hanson Roberts - Music Minister
laurie@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 510

Laurie joined Grace Avenue UMC as the Music Minister in 1999. She received a Bachelor of Music/Voice and Bachelor of Music Education from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She received a Master of Music/Choral Conducting and Masters of Sacred Music from Perkins School of Theology at SMU in Dallas, Texas.

She has taught elementary music in Arlington, Texas, has served as Associate Minister of Music at Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas, Texas and as studio musician for Word Records.
read more »

Bill Roberts - Associate Music Minister
billroberts@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 511

Bill has been associated with Grace Avenue UMC since its inception in 1999, when his wife Laurie became the church's first music minister. He joined the staff of Grace Avenue in 2004 as Associate Music Minister after serving churches in the Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston areas in both music ministry and youth ministry. Bill began his career in music ministry at age 16 when he was appointed choir director of Milby Memorial United Methodist Church in Houston, where his father served as pastor.

With majors in music and psychology, Bill holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and University of North Texas, including Masters of Music from SMU and Masters of Sacred Music from Perkins School of Theology. read more »

Clint Allen - Communications Minister
clint@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 507

Clint began his current position with Grace Avenue as Communication Minister in 2011. He graduated from TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications. He began his church career as a Youth Minister, first serving at Richland Hills UMC and then Martin UMC. He served as the Youth Minister at Grace Avenue UMC for four and a half years.

As Communications Minister, his job is to connect all the dots. He runs the backend of worship, i.e. sound, lights and media for all the services. He also creates, shoots and edits most of the videos for the church. read more »

Kim Eiffert - Communications Assistant
kime@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext.516

Kim came to Grace Avenue in 2011 with over 14 years experience in marketing, advertising, communications and graphic design.  Having worked in such varied industries as fast food, travel and tourism and landscaping equipment she is thrilled to be at Grace Avenue where she can use her skills to serve a greater purpose.  Kim graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Advertising and later earned a degree in Design Communications.

As the Communications Assistant at Grace Avenue, Kim’s responsibilities are pretty much whatever lands on her desk. read more »

Christopher Vaughan - Youth Minister
christopher@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 514

Christopher Vaughan is one of our youth ministers at Grace Avenue. He is currently a student at Perkins School of Theology getting a Masters of Divinity. He grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana where he received his Bachelors Degree in Religious Studies.

Christopher's ministry is primarily with the senior high youth. He is responsible for planning and implementing plans and coordinating activities for them. read more »

Jenna Morrison - Youth Minister
jenna@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 514

Jenna joined the youth ministry team at Grace Avenue in 2009 as one of two interns for what began as a summer job. In the years that followed at Grace Avenue, she has held many job titles. Currently, she serves as one of two youth ministers on staff, focusing on programming for Junior High (6th-8th grade youth). She graduated from Texas Christian University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Work Minor. At this point, she is working on her Master of Divinity at Perkins School of Theology at SMU and is pursuing ordination as an elder in the United Methodist Church. read more »

Tracy Huselton - Assistant Missions Minister
tracy@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 503

Tracy joined the Grace Avenue team as Assistant Missions Minister in August 2010. Prior to this she worked in software development for nearly 14 years until she felt a calling to go into ministry. She is currently a student at Perkins School of Theology in pursuit of a Master of Divinity, in hopes of becoming an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church.

Tracy is responsible for coordinating the missions at Grace Avenue. Grace Avenue is involved in a wide variety of missions from Habitat for Humanity, to Bingo with senior citizens, to International missions.
read more »

Karen Lubbe - Rainbow Corner Director
karen@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 513

Karen has been Director of Rainbow Corner Preschool since 2011. She taught Pre-K at Rainbow Corner for 4 years before serving in her current role.

She has a Bachelor of Education from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she also specialized in Early Childhood. She taught 3rd - 6th grade in Richardson ISD, Richardson, Texas, for 10 years and then went on to serve as Science Specialist for the district for over 2 years.
read more »

Bethany Guinn - Administrative Assistant
bethany@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882

Bethany moved to Frisco from Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated in 2005 from Auburn University. Before moving to Frisco, she was the operations manager for Voigt-Abernathy Sales Corporation, an industrial pump company.

It is her smile that greets you when you enter the church office. She is an administrative assistant and her job responsibilities include: printing bulletins, inserts, sending out newsletters, attendance and other various office duties..
read more »

Meghan Randall - Guest Relations
meghan@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 502

Meghan has been with Grace Avenue UMC since 2007. Prior to joining the Grace Avenue team, she worked for the Ciry of Frisco in the Planning Department.

Her job rresponsibilities include welcoming visitors and new members to Grace Avenue and helping them learn more about our church family.

Her passion in the church is sharing the love of our church family with others.
read more »

Laura Simmons - Office Assistant
lauras@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 504

Laura moved to Frisco from Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1999. She came from the nonprofit sector where she worked with both agency funding and volunteer management. Laura joined the Grace Avenue team in 2004. She has enjoyed her nonprofit and church work because of the wonderful people, and working together for a greater cause.

Her current responsibilities include the weekly proofing and printing of worship bulletins, Sunday School rosters and attendance, ordering all office supplies and a variety of projects that cross her desk!
read more »

Christine Herzog - Bookkeeper
christine@graceavenue.org
972.335.2882, ext. 504

Christine came to Grace Avenue UMC with fifteen years experience in accounting and finance. Her primary experience was in corporate accounting. Her responsibilities included, but were not limited to, processing, reporting and analysis of financials.

Her current job responsibility is handling all bookkeeping for the church financial records, including contributions. Additionally, she assists the Business Administrator, Merri Nelson, in any way she can. read more »