OUR STAFF

Pastor

Stephen Yates

Stephen is a  graduate of Albion College, Vanderbilt Divinity School, and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading, playing guitar poorly, riding his motorcycle when time permits, cooking, exercising, and refereeing soccer games (at least most of the time!).   

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He is married to Audrey, an adviser at MTSU in the College of Media and Entertainment. They have two sons, Jonah and Luke.

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He has served churches in Rockwood, TN, Destin, FL, and has been at FPC Tullahoma since August of 2013. 

Office Manager

Martha Bradley

Martha has been on staff at First Presbyterian Church since 1980 as Church Secretary and in addition served as the Director of Christian Education for approximately 22 years (1982-2004) during that time.

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She taught high school English classes in New Orleans and Nashville and psychology classes at Motlow College before beginning work at First Presbyterian Church.

She has been married to Mike since 1963. They have a daughter who is a Professor of Medieval Studies at Texas A & M University and a son who is a chef in Kentucky; also 3 grandchildren.

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Martha enjoys traveling, hiking and identifying wildflowers, reading, cooking, and some writing.

Youth Minister & Preschool Director

Bethany Sterling

A lifelong Presbyterian, Bethany has been employed by the Learning Place Preschool since 2015. She taught in the preschool for two years before becoming the Director in 2017. In 2022, she took on the role of Minister to Youth. 

Before moving to Tullahoma in early 2008, she worked as a museum educator, first in Washington, DC and then in Kentucky. 

Bethany and her husband Greg have three teens; two are students in Tullahoma City Schools and one is a college student.

Bethany is never without a book and enjoys trying new foods and traveling.

Children's Minister

Katie Prasser

Katie, who grew up in our church, joined the staff in 2021 as the children's minister. As a youth in  our church you could often find Katie in the nursery with the little ones. She has always had a passion for children and enjoys being able to share her faith with the next generation. Katie loves art, and you can often find her working on her latest painting in her spare time. She enjoys music and singing (not that anyone wants to hear her sing). 

She graduated from THS in 2004 and attended classes at Motlow  for a while. From 2006 to 2009 Katie taught at a local preschool and accumulated over 100 training hours in early childhood development/education. In 2012 she completed training and testing as a certified nursing assistant and worked as a CNA for many years. 

Katie met her husband Shannon while they were both working for Skills Development Services in 2010. After living in Michigan for a couple of years, they moved back to Tullahoma in 2016. Katie and their oldest son Eli joined the church in 2017. Since then they have welcomed Isaac and Noah to their family. 

Organist

David Hiebert

David has been the church organist for over 30 years and and is an exceptional organist and pianist.

Choir Director

Robert Wright

Robert is a native of Tullahoma, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Warren Wilson College and Princeton Theological Seminary. 

Robert served 3 churches while a pastor: First Presbyterian of Levittown, PA; First Presbyterian of Fort Dodge, IA; and Providence Presbyterian of Charlotte, NC. After leaving full-time ministry he has been involved with Covenant Presbyterian in Tullahoma and our own First Presbyterian. He was assistant director at Skills Development Services, Tullahoma, and Director at New Life, Winchester, and Director at Evergreen Agency in Antioch, TN. Most recently he retired from American Health Partners as HR Manager.

Robert has five daughters: Sarah Wright Winland, of Louisville, KY; Olya Wright Fedotov, of Loxahatchee, FL; Katherine Wright Prasser, of Tullahoma; Christine Wright  of Tullahoma; and Jamie Wright Fletcher of Tullahoma. He is also a proud grandfather of 13 grandchildren. He enjoys his grandchildren very much and also enjoys audio books, reading and all types of music. 

Parish Associate for Pastoral Care (Volunteer)

Michael R. Bradley

Michael is a graduate of Samford University (BA), New Orleans Theological Seminary (BD), and Vanderbilt University (PhD). Throughout his dual career he was a history professor at Motlow College (1970-2006) as well as serving as the pastor of small churches.

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Ordained in 1962, he served as the pastor of Gaylesville (AL) Baptist Church; LaVergne (TN) Presbyterian Church;  Clifton (TN) Presbyterian Church for 30 years, and Decherd Presbyterian Church for 10 years,  with interim pastorates in intervening years (at Tullahoma FPC; Normandy Presbyterian Church twice, and Manchester FPC).

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He has been married to Martha since 1963. Over the years, as time permitted, he has enjoyed traveling, hiking, fishing, and writing about Civil War history.

Now, he is affectionately known among the staff as a “loveable curmudgeon.” He and Martha make up the Sloth Hiking Team whose motto is “We will get there when we get there.”

Custodian

Shannon Prasser

Shannon joined our staff in 2020. He is a Michigan State fan and has football on almost every day during football season. Shannon is a fabulous cook, and you can often smell mouth-watering aromas coming from his grill. He has a long and varied work history. He is currently working on a degree in mechanical engineering. In his free time Shannon enjoys talking with his adult children and spending time with the little boys.