New Conference Appointments
We are excited to announce the appointment of two new Presiding Elders and a new chair of the Board of Ministry within the Mississippi-West Tennessee Conference.
Amory Presiding Elder
Rev. Buddy Smith has been appointed as the new Presiding Elder for the Amory District, effective July 1.
Buddy brings a wealth of pastoral experience and spiritual leadership to this new role. He retired as Senior VP at American Family Association and American Family Radio after 31 years. And he currently serves as VP Emeritus and board member at AFA.
Before going to AFA, he pastored Methodist churches in Mississippi for 15 years. He has also served on the Board of Trustees at Wesley Biblical Seminary and currently works there part-time as the Director of Church Relations. He and his wife Carol have been married 52 years, and they have 2 children and 5 grandchildren.
Delta South Presiding Elder
Rev. Michael Lindsay has been appointed as the new Presiding Elder for the Delta South District, effective August 1.
Michael serves as the Senior Pastor of Indianola First Methodist Church in Indianola, MS. He previously served Trinity Methodist Church and Greenville First Methodist Church.
A native of Starkville, MS, Michael has called the Mississippi Delta home for the past six years. Prior to answering the call to ministry, Michael attended the University of South Carolina, earning a bachelor’s degree in Marketing & Management. Upon responding to God’s call on his life, Michael found his way to Wilmore, KY where he attended Asbury Theological Seminary, earning a Master of Divinity degree.
Michael has served the Global Methodist Church in various capacities throughout the short tenure of our denomination. In the early days, he served on the Mississippi-West Tennessee (MS-WTN) Transitional Conference Advisory Team (TCAT), helping to recruit, inform, and lay the foundation for our Annual Conference. He currently serves on the Conference Superintendency Committee, and served as a clergy delegate representing MS-WTN at the Convening General Conference of the GMC in San Jose, Costa Rica. Michael has been elected to serve in the same capacity at the 2026 General Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Michael is happily married to Kaylyn, who is also an ordained Elder in the Global Methodist Church, and they serve together at Indianola First Methodist Church. Michael and Kaylyn have two daughters, Lottie (3) and Ivy (1).
Board of Ministry Chair
Rev. Wesley Pepper has been appointed as the new chair of the Board of Ministry, effective June 1.
Wesley serves as the Senior Pastor of First Methodist Church in Amory, Mississippi. And for the last two years he has served as the Presiding Elder of the Amory District. We are deeply grateful for his incredible leadership over the pastors and churches in this district.
He has also been a member of the Board of Ministry over these last few years. And he now leaves the Cabinet to become the chair of the Board of Ministry. We feel confident that Wesley will bring the same servant leadership and passion for Jesus to the Board of Ministry that he brought to the Amory District.
Please join us in welcoming Wesley and lifting him up in prayer as he begins this new work.
