Bart

My family and I officially joined Crozet United Methodist in 2019 and I recently joined the staff as the Communications Director and I’m also serving as the volunteer Youth Group Director. A North Carolina native, I grew up in a Methodist church, with a grandmother who taught bible study classes and a mother who was in charge of children’s ministry before attending UVa, which is how I found Charlottesville and, in turn, Crozet. Being part of the leadership team for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes was an instrumental part of my time at UVa and where my wife and I met. I’m a sportswriter by trade and after several years as a newspaper writer in Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, I turned my attention to founding a company with my father that has been covering high school sports in Central Virginia since 2009, Scrimmage Play. I’ve also run social media for a variety of companies and developed a podcast production company. My wife Anna and I have three children, Jack, Lila Mae and Harper.

What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make? Crozet United Methodist does some particularly amazing work within the walls of the church and out in the community — work that has an incredible impact. Getting a chance to tell those stories and in turn connect church and community members to ministries they can be a part of, contribute to or get excited about is exciting to me. I love a good story and I’ve seen enough of them while attending Crozet UMC to know there’s a lot of great stories happening already and a lot of new ones to come. I’m also excited about helping develop, foster and expand programming particularly within the youth ministry.

What are you passionate about?  Creating community. Whether it’s through coaching youth flag football, covering high school sports or simply making barbecue at home and sharing with neighbors and friends, I’m all about trying to create connections that people can find a sense of belonging through as well as highlighting cultural touchstones that foster those connections. I firmly believe the better connected we are as a community, the better we are able to withstand challenging times and find common ground.

What do you like most about Crozet UMC? There are so many things I like about the church, but the prioritization of missions work is at the top of my list. To me, a church is defined by the impact it has outside of its own walls. My most profound experiences as a young church goer were on missions trips to the Kentucky mountains and Venezuela, so I’m excited for the chance to make that possible for youth at the church as well, building on what other members are already hard at work on the missions front.