Welcome to First Church of Port Orange! Thank you for considering making this your church home. We have exciting worship services and ministry opportunities for all ages. Our small groups offer the opportunity to connect with other Christ-followers in a loving community focused on service to others. Join us as we share life together!
We hope to see you soon!
Tom Nelson
Senior Pastor, First Church Port Orange
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Lay Leadership
First Church is not only comprised of a Staff who sees to the ministries and facilities on a daily basis, we also have a tremendous team of servant leader volunteers who carry on the role as leader over church committees and facility maintenance. These generous servants lead other teams to ensure the church’s ministries can thrive and help fulfill the needs of our each other and our guests. Below is a list of those leaders and a little about them.
Clint Hulcher – First Church Lay Leader
What is the lay leader’s role, in a nutshell?
The lay leader represents the members of the church and is a bridge between the congregation and the pastor. As the lay leader, I am a member of the Family Staff, Facility & Finance, and the Nominations and Leadership Development Teams. I also lead the Servant Leader team (church council).
The Family Staff Servant Team is an active link between the congregation and members of the staff at First UMC of Port Orange. We support the staff of FCPO in its ministry to the congregation and the community. We support staff members of FCPO as they relate to each other and to United Methodist supervision of our church and staff. We communicate regularly with staff members through assigned liaisons and are available to congregants to receive communication from them. We review policies, procedures, responsibilities, and performance of staff members to ensure staff members are supportive of each other and of the congregation. As a team, we commit to pray for the staff and the congregation, to respect the boundaries of staff relationships (including their need to maintain appropriate work-life balance), and to maintain the highest degree of confidentiality in all our actions and communications.
How long have you lived in the area?
We moved to this area in 2017 after spending the previous 24 years in the Nashville, Tennessee area.
How long have you been a member of First Church Port Orange?
We joined First Church in 2018, transferring membership from Rehoboth UMC in Gallatin, TN (members there for 24 years).
What is your career, or what are you retired from?
I retired from The United Methodist Publishing House in 2017. I began my career at UMPH in Music Resources publishing and ended as Executive Director, Financial and Business Analysis. In “retirement”, I have served as Project Manager for the new United Methodist Hymnal.
How do you like to spend your time when not volunteering in your lay leadership role?
I enjoy traveling with family, woodworking (mostly small projects), and gardening for veggies.
What is one interesting thing people might not know about you?
Karen and I have lived in eight states and have been fortunate to travel to 47 plus a few locations outside the US. We hope to knock out the remaining three states (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming) soon.
How long have you lived in the area?
I moved here in 2004 from Northern Virginia.
How long have you been a member of First Church Port Orange?
I’ve been a First Church member since 2004.
What is your career, or what are you retired from?
I was a chemist and environmental program manager for the Department of the Army, in the Pentagon.
How do you like to spend your time when not volunteering in your lay leadership role?
Gardening, traveling, quilting, and spending time with grandchildren.
What is one interesting thing people might not know about you?
I lived in more than 10 places (and 15 homes) between college and Port Orange, moving with my first husband’s Navy career.
The Welcome Servants Team greets worshipers on Sunday mornings, welcomes new visitors, and seeks to establish an initial relationship that will bring people back to First Church again.
How long have you lived in the area?
My wife, Gail Magnuson, and I moved to Ponce Inlet from Chardon, OH, where we were active in The Federated Church of Chagrin Falls, seven years ago. We saw the FUMCPO sign out front, decided to try it our first Sunday in town and never left. We joined in late summer of 2014.
What is your career, or what are you retired from?
I’m a retired marketing manager and have been enjoying my “encore career” of flight instructing at Epic Flight Academy. I focus on training new flight instructors.
How do you like to spend your time when not volunteering in your lay leadership role?
Flight instruction has grown to take up most of my free time. I do enjoy cooking and occasional baking when not working.
What is one interesting thing people might not know about you?
I lived in Naples, Italy for 3 1/2 years while in the Navy and speak a few words of conversational Italian.
Word Servants is another name for Christian education. Our team will help classes obtain materials, prepare an Advent and Lenten devotional each year and oversee the church library. The team members are Donna Knott and Shelly Boehm.
How long have you lived in the area? Where were you before moving to this area?
I was born in Kentucky, where my dad was a coal miner. When that work ran out, my family moved to Daytona to be close to our grandparents. I graduated from Mainland and Daytona Beach Junior College and was recruited by the FBI and moved to the DC area (no, I was not given a gun). I’ve been in Port Orange for over 30 years, coming from Maryland, where I worked in a law firm before the girls came along. Then it was all the things you do when you are a “stay at home mom”: teach Sunday School, assist the school librarian, chair the PTA, substitute teach at the girl’s school, church secretary, newsletter editor and babysit all the neighborhood kids.
How long have you been a member of First Church Port Orange?
I joined First Church in 1991. In addition to Word Servants, I volunteer in the church office and at the Thrift Boutique.
What is your career, or what are you retired from?
Before retirement, I spent 17 years with the Speedway. Since retirement there has been more time for volunteering, visiting, and keeping up with family and church members.
How do you like to spend your time when not volunteering in your lay leadership role?
Since my dad moved into my home, there is not much spare time, but some time is made for reading.
As Lay Delegate to Annual Conference, I attend monthly meetings of First Church Lay Leaders and the Facility & Finance teams. I also serve on the Board of Derbyshire Place, enjoy helping out on the sound board for Sunday services, doing odd jobs around campus and driving bus for the youth group.
How long have you been a member of First Church Port Orange?
After singing in the choir and participating in Discipleship classes, I joined First Church in 1998.
What is your career, or what are you retired from?
As a medical ultrasound tech, I moved from Michigan in 1980 and formed my own company, Mobile Ultrasound Specialists, serving hospitals, physicians offices and Coleman Federal Prison until my retirement in 2015.
How do you like to spend your time when not volunteering in your lay leadership role?
I love to spend as much time as possible with my two granddaughters.
The Thrift Boutique is a ministry of First Church. We believe that everything that comes through the doors is a gift from God. We are called to be good stewards of these gifts and to respond to the needs of our community and beyond.
How long have you lived in the area?
We got married in May 2015 and moved from a northeast suburb of Atlanta a few months later. My husband passed away last November from lymphoma.
How long have you been a member of First Church Port Orange?
Since 2016. Before that, Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Buckhead.
What is your career, or what are you retired from?
I am a retired nonprofit healthcare executive.
How do you like to spend your time when not volunteering in your lay leadership role?
Volunteering at AdventHealth Daytona Beach, reading, interacting with friends and family, travel and walking my dog.
What is one interesting thing people might not know about you?
I was a volunteer and executive during the early days of hospice care. I chaired a national task force and wrote 2 monographs on how to successfully get reimbursed by private insurance and managed care programs.
Comments or questions are welcome.