Staff
John became East Brentwood Presbyterian’s Minister October 2013, returning to pastoral work after years of nonprofit leadership and owning a consulting and software business called Patmos, LLC. He brings a strong skill set and experience in strategic planning, organizational leadership, and stewardship.
John brings life experience as a father / husband / brother / son, an understanding of what it means to run a business and a deep empathy of what many face in their work environments, and a desire to be more rooted in a community – all of which informs his preaching and teaching. He first came to Nashville in 1994 to serve as Senior Minister of The Downtown Presbyterian Church (1994-2000) and he has served other churches in the Middle Tennessee area, including Priest Lake Presbyterian Church. His work in the Presbyterian Church has taken him to work with churches in South Africa, New York City, New Jersey, and Iowa. About the church, John says: “God’s love is the mortar by which the community is built: our focus upon worship, education, and service is our proclamation.”
John is married to Kira Florita Hilley and they have 4 adult children: Aaron, Sam, Marrah and Rick. He enjoys kayaking, bicycling, and hiking with his friends and his dogs Lucy and Boomer. He holds degrees from Wake Forest University and Princeton Theological Seminary and has taken post-graduate fellowship studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Earlier in 2020 he returned to South Africa on a sabbatical to explore with church and community leaders how their history concerning race and equity concerns could benefit our own church and national landscape. John serves on the U.S. Advisory Committee of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation and is an Advisory Board Member of the Center for Business Ethics at Belmont University. He also serves on the Church Transformation Committee of the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee.
Nate Strasser is the music director at East Brentwood Presbyterian Church and an adjunct professor at Belmont University.
He has performed across the globe in concerts and workshops including in Scotland, Austria, and China. Nate has worked as the pianist for various TV shows for Netflix and Apple TV including Franklin and Emily in Paris. He recently composed additional music for the new Netflix animated series Captain Fall. Nate has done music prep work for Dave Matthews and Seth MacFarlane and was the orchestrator for Oscar-nominated composer Carter Burwell. He has also been the pianist for dozens of films as well, most notably the Oscar-nominated film Harriet and I Wanna Dance with Somebody, the Whitney Houston biopic. He has released three albums which you can find on all streaming platforms including a Christmas album and most recently an album of his cinematic symphonic works. Nate lives in Franklin, TN with his wife, two boys, and two dogs
Ms. Pam has been teaching at East Brentwood Children’s Academy for more than twenty years. Pam is a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University and is continuing her education by pursuing a CDA certification from Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance. Pam spearheaded many curriculum initiatives over the past two decades and has been instrumental in the development of community relationships to benefit both EBCA staff and families. As interim Director, she brings her expertise and dedication to providing developmentally appropriate education and support to the students. Pam's background as a teacher gives her first-hand knowledge of what is needed both for students and teachers to be successful. Pam resides in Brentwood with her husband David and is thrilled to have her two daughters back in the area pursuing their own careers in education.
Born and raised in southwest Michigan, Amanda moved to Tennessee in 2018 where she later met her husband, Chris. Amanda graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor's in Physical Education. She also obtained her Master's degree from the University of Indianapolis with a focus in Sports Management. Amanda has several years of administrative experience, and thoroughly enjoys helping with organization and productivity within a business environment. Outside of work, Amanda competes professionally in the IFBB Fitness division, and loves all things sports and fitness. Amanda currently resides in Ashland City, TN with her husband, Chris, their two children (Addison, 12, and Gunnar, 7) , their two dogs, two cats and three chickens.
Leadership
Thriving churches depend on thoughtful, creative, energetic leadership. Our leadership is not static, we change it annually.
Over time, many are asked to share in the opportunity to lead. We seek to equip our current (and future) leaders with the skills and abilities to discern the direction we should take, communicate effectively so that all can share the vision, and lead confidently as we seek to fulfill God’s purpose for EBPC.
Session Organization
In order for East Brentwood to faithfully fulfill its mission and calling from God, we organize into committees/ministry areas. These committees/ministry areas function to:
Develop and manage all ministries, programs, and activities designed to fulfill the purpose and objective of the specific ministry.
Develop a responsible yearly operating budget in conjunction with the Budget Committee.
Plan for the publication of the activities under its direction, providing support staff adequate and timely information to implement and communicate regarding these plans.
Develop an annual calendar of activities.
Manage all resources including funding, curriculum, and facilities, within the approved operation budget.
Ensure that all adopted policies and procedures are utilized throughout programs.
Meet monthly as a Ministry Area or in individual Planning Teams to ensure maximum participation in the ministry and oversight of activities.
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John Hilley, Moderator
Barb Hall, Mission and Outreach and Engagement, Team Lead
Bill Phillips, Strategic Team, Lead Administration, Finance and Facilities
Tyler Spaid, Administration, Finance and Facilities Team Lead
Louis Morrow , Mission and Outreach and Engagement
Larry Wilson, Administration and Finance and Property (Property Lead)
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Andy Brown
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Chris Moore
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Owen Coulam
Grady Vasilevskis
2023-2024 EBPC ELDERS:
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Barb Hall
A transplant from Toronto, Canada Barb & her family have been part of EBPC for a couple of decades. Barb & Greg met at Peoples Church in Toronto as teens and married there. They have 2 daughters Abigail & Stephanie & EBPC was the church they grew up in. Barb worked as a Social Worker in Canada but shifted into filmmaking when they moved to Nashville. She remains very active at the Presbytery with Nueva Vida & Guatemala Peten Mission Task Force.
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Louis Morrow
Originally introduced to EBPC through the preschool back in 2009, Louis, his wife Erin and their three sons Brooks (23), Will (19) and Miles (16) have been regular members for over 10 years. After stints in Pensacola, FL, Birmingham, AL and Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Louis and Erin have lived in Brentwood for over 15 years and have both taken on leadership roles at EBPC. Louis leads the EBPC Men’s Group and plays bass in the Praise Band, while Erin is a former member of the Session and is currently very active with the church’s Room In The Inn program. Erin also works as a speech therapist and is part of the EBPC preschool staff. Professionally Louis is the Vice President of Sales at Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems,a cloud-based healthcare technology platform whose mission is to end preventable blindness associated with diabetic retinopathy. They both enjoy live music, traveling, and running – as long as their knees and backs hold out.
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Bill Phillips
Bill R. Phillips is a native Texan. He began attending East Brentwood Presbyterian Church via Facebook during COVID pandemic, joining the congregation a year ago. He and his late wife, Candy, were active in Presbyterian congregations in California, Virginia, and Nevada. Bill served on the Session of First Presbyterian of Hanford, California. Career in politics and government took the Phillips across the nation for assignments at the local, state, and federal levels. An opportunity as Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs at Vanderbilt University brought him to Nashville in 1994. Later, he served twice as deputy mayor of Nashville as well as founding a government relations firm in Nashville. He also served as aide to a governor of Nevada, Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr, and leadership positions in national political organizations. He has three grown children and seven grandchildren. He has lived at The Heritage at Brentwood since 2019. He is a combat veteran of the Vietnam war, serving in MACV, Advisory Team 1.
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Tyler Spaid
Tyler Spaid comes from the greater Seattle area where he met his wife (and High School sweetheart) Melissa. They moved to Nashville to chase a dream in the music business ultimately settling in Nolensville and raising three kids, one in elementary school, one in middle school, and one in high school all at the same time! He graduated from Belmont University with an MBA in 2003 and became a CPA in 2016. Tyler enjoys studying theology in his free time and has worked in youth ministry for 12 years, run sound ministry for 17 years, was a deacon for 7 years, and an elder for 3 years all at independent, non-denominational churches.
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Larry Wilson
Born and raised in Charlotte, NC. Moved to Texas in 1979 and then to Tennessee in 1986. Married to Gay. We have two grown children Patrick and Ashley and three grandsons Will, Jacob, and Graham. Gay and I served on a Presbytery Task force in 1986 to form a new church which became known as East Brentwood Presbyterian. We are proud to be founding members of this congregation. I have served as an Elder, Treasurer, and Trustee for this church. I have also served as Treasurer for the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee. I enjoy golfing and building cars, when not being summoned to handle various repairs at the church. God has blessed me with skills to handle repairs and has provided me with an opportunity to practice on these church grounds. I feel God has rekindled my spirit to serve as a member of the session. This I do with Honor.