Pastor Information

Rev. Ginger Isom
Ginger is originally from Birmingham, AL (yes, she is an avid Crimson Tide fan!), but northeast Tennessee was always like a second home.  Her mom was born in Stonega, VA and moved to Kingsport at the age of 11 when her grandfather went to work at Eastman, so vacations were most often spent in Kingsport visiting her maternal grandparents.  Ginger is proud of her Appalachian heritage, saying, “I may have been born and reared in the deep south, but my mom made sure we were all raised Appalachian.”

Ginger’s undergraduate degree is in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Montevallo.  She also has a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Scarritt Graduate School and a Master of Theological Studies from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

She started as a Diaconal Minister in 1987, serving in the area of Christian Education, before giving into the call to pastoral ministry in 1996 while on staff at First Broad Street UMC in Kingsport.  She was ordained elder at the 2000 gathering of the Holston Annual Conference.  She is excited to be returning to the former Morristown District, now Mountain View District, where most of her pastoral ministry has been spent.  She has also served in various capacities on the District and Conference level, and she now serves as a part of the Conference Discipleship Team.

Ginger’s passions in ministry are outreach, missions, and discipleship.  She has a heart towards building relationships with the unchurched in the community that are authentic, invitational, and transformative.  She is excited the church is within walking distance to downtown and looks forward to getting to know the local merchants and restauranteurs.  She believes all who are baptized are called to ministry and loves coming alongside others to help them discover where their passions and gifts can best serve God and neighbor, or as Frederick Buechner says, “where our deep gladness meets the world’s great need.”  Though she is currently serving a church that offers contemporary worship only, Ginger is looking forward to a worship setting that embraces liturgy and the rich heritage of our hymnody.

Ginger lost her husband in August 2014 after a five-month battle with pancreatic cancer.  She has four adult step-children, three of whom live in north Alabama and one who lives in Chattanooga.  She has a 7-year old furbaby, a Great Pyrenees, who is her heart.   For enjoyment, she loves to go antiquing; go to movies; attend community cultural, historical, and craft events and festivals; listen to music (of which she has a very eclectic taste); cook; make prayer beads; watch college football; and dine out with friends.  She is a self-acclaimed coffee snob, as well, and loves to meet with folks over a good cup of joe.