Church Staff
Pastor Tennille
Pastor
Get to Know Pastor Tennille!
Family:
Husband: Bryant Alexander
Children: Kamaal (age 26), Amar (age 24), Jayvyn (age 21)
Hobbies:
Yoga, reading, travel, walks, road trips
Service:
East Ohio Conference of the UMC—Anti-Racism Team and COSROW
Heartland Networks of Ohio—Pro-Racial Equity Team
Lorain County Urban League
Elyria Rotary
Junior League of Cleveland
National Council of 100 Black Women, Greater Cleveland Chapter
Top Ladies of Distinction, Greater Cleveland Chapter—Chaplain
National Council of Negro Women—Chaplain
Passions:
Womanist Theology and Gender issues; marrying theology and psychology, specifically working with clients and congregants around trauma.
Terri Wilhelm
Administrative Assistant
Terri brings a great set of skills to the position with her past work experiences in church, business, and higher education settings. In particular, Terri has excellent organizational, communication, teaching, and creative problem-solving skills. Of special interest is that she owned and operated her own ice cream retail shop called “SCOOPS,” and has worked in areas of membership recording-keeping, financial management, and music programming in several UMC churches.
Wendy Cooper
Wendy, a life-long United Methodist, graduated from Cuyahoga Community College in 1991 with an Associate of Arts degree. She moved to North Olmsted in 2003, and has been a Member of NOUMC since 2004. Wendy has been the Director of Christian Education since 2011, and she recently took on the additional position of Youth Director. Wendy has been married to her husband, Bill, a sales rep for S-Tec, for 27 years, and she has two daughters…Emily, who is a recent Baldwin Wallace graduate, and Amy, who is currently studying at Cuyahoga Community College. Wendy enjoys photography, scrapbooking, and reading. She is thankful to God for this opportunity to teach others about Jesus.
Gabriela Martinez
Director of Music
Gabriela Martinez began musical studies at the Alejandro Garcia Caturla Music Conservatory in Havana, Cuba. She completed the high school music program at the National School of Music in Havana. In Santiago, Chile she obtained the Bachelor Degree in Choral Direction and Vocal Performance at the University of Chile. In Santiago, she conducted several choirs including the adult choir of the Catholic University of Chile and the Choir of the Supreme Court of Santiago. She also worked as a choir supervisor and voice teacher in the children’s program of the Municipal Theater of Santiago.
From 2004 to 2008 she was the director of the adult choir and the youth choir of the Municipal Theater of Temuco, Chile. She also directed other choirs in Temuco including the Universidad Mayor Chorus and the Children’s Choir of the German School.
She performed soloist roles in La Traviata and Madama Butterfly at the Municipal Theater of Temuco. Ms. Martínez was part of the Cleveland Orchestra Choir for the 2008-2009 season.
In 2010, she obtained her Master Degree in Vocal Performance at the Cleveland State University(CSU) under Professor Elizabeth Chesko. She has been part of the Voice Faculty at Cleveland State since the fall of 2012. She is also a voice teacher at Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, Ohio
Javier Gonzalez
Organist
Javier studied Organ at Cleveland State University, where he earned a Masters in Music Performance. He recently worked as organist at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church and currently is the accompanist for the college choir at Oberlin Conservatory. Javier has a wealth of knowledge as well as a diverse range of experience.