Senior Pastor

kfloyd@ssumc.org

Kate began her time as Senior Pastor of SSUMC in June of 2019 and is thrilled to be in ministry with this congregation and the wider Sandy Springs community. A lifelong United Methodist, Kate has served in ministry since 2007 with churches in Atlanta, Chicago, and Arlington, VA. She’s passionate about peace with justice, interfaith relationship-building, and sharing God’s unconditional love. In her spare time she enjoys running (slowly), good books and bad TV.

Kate received her B.A. from Rice University in Religious Studies/Gender Studies and her M.Div. from Candler School of Theology with a concentration in Women in Theology in Ministry. She is married to Rev. Dr. Kyle Tau who works as Ecumenical Staff Officer for the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church. They have two young children, Daisy and Sam.

Director of Family Ministries

cjohnson@ssumc.org

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Candace moved to Atlanta to attend Candler School of Theology at Emory University and graduated with her MDIV in 2008. She couldn’t resist the warm weather and hospitality of Atlanta and is happy to live here now (but still cheers for her Pittsburgh Steelers!). She loves getting the chance to explore the stories of our faith with children, youth, and their families.

Director of Community Connection

epalmer@ssumc.org

Emma Palmer is a lifelong United Methodist, growing up in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. She graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a double major in Religion and Business Administration Finance and a distinction in Poverty Studies. 

Following her undergraduate, Emma began her seminary education at Boston University School of Theology, although she paused to engage directly in ministry. Emma's commitment to ministry spans diverse settings, including youth, children, pastoral, and urban ministries across various United Methodist Churches such as First UMC of Opelika, Roswell UMC, Church at Ross Bridge, and Church of the Reconciler during her college tenure. 

For the past year and a half, she has served at Anniston First UMC as the Director of Student Ministries, Communications Coordinator, and the staff head of their Reach Team. She is excited to bring this wealth of experience and passion for community engagement and faith development in her role as the Director of Community Connection at Sandy Springs UMC. 

Director of Music

djones@ssumc.org

Don Jones grew up in Maine and quickly realized he had a passion for the piano. He was accepted into the world-renowned, Interlochen Arts Academy as a high school student. He later attended New England Conservatory and has a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance. Don went on to play keyboards in four Broadway productions, including the hit, Wicked. He has worked primarily in musical theatre and at various churches throughout the years. Don met his wife in NYC and they both moved to her hometown of Atlanta in 2013. He then went to graduate school at Georgia State University and in 2015, received his MBA. He now owns The Studios Brookhaven, a performing arts school for kids of all ages. He is also the Founder and Co-Director of The Atlanta Institute for Musical Theatre, a local nonprofit.

Don began playing piano for churches when he was just 13 years old. In the last 30 years, Don has played for numerous congregations in Maine, New York and Atlanta. For the past ten years, Don has been the Director of Music at Brookhaven United Methodist Church. Don’s passion lies in smaller congregations and choirs where he is able to work side by side with others and help shape the future of music programs at religious organizations.

Don lives in the Sagamore Hills area of Atlanta (near Briarlake and Clairmont) with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. He is enthusiastic about his new position here at Sandy Springs UMC and looks forward to what is to come!

Business Administrator

cpaz@ssumc.org

Before taking this role, Claudia worked at Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and other corporations where she was responsible for management administration, budgets and forecasts, human resources (recruitment, onboarding, and training), regional development (properties and facilities) and special events and projects, among others. Claudia’s many accomplishments include driving the transformation of American Airlines where she managed a new sales territory and team members, and influenced C-level executives and decision-makers to increase revenue across an entire region. At Delta Air Lines and over two decades with the company, she played a key role when launching of all new flights for the Latin American and Caribbean market and building the sales organization for this region from ground zero (targeting annual revenue of US$100M); she also led a program to hire flight attendants to serve different US sports teams (football, baseball, basketball) and VIP Charters (White House, Carter Center and other VIP clients); she helped internal customers (5,000+ aircraft mechanics) answering general and technical questions to support domestic and global operation and more recently, she led a training program for 13,000 airport employees hired after the COVID-19 pandemic where she drove coordination of global initiatives to provide excellent customer service and ensure business continuity.

A dual citizen of the United States and Colombia and with her background, Claudia’s international perspective gives her a deep appreciation of diversity in all its forms. She is committed to continuing to build an inclusive church that reflects the teachings of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and where we empower each other to lead the church in exciting new ways. She received her education in Business Administration with studies in Project Management and Law; Claudia is also a translator and interpreter, speaking English and Spanish, and understanding Portuguese.

In her spare time, she does volunteer work where she supports two non-profit organizations from Colombia, South America where they help families and children due to extreme poverty and violence in the country.  She also loves traveling, swimming, cooking, singing, dancing, and spending time with family and friends.

Administrative Assistant

jcook@ssumc.org

Jan is a lifelong United Methodist originally from Maryville, Tennessee, but recently moved to Roswell to be near family. After 30 years in corporate sales, she is excited to serve the faith community in this way. She enjoys the outdoors, wildlife, staying active, and spending time with her 5-year-old Corgi, Miss Rosie.

Facilities Assistant

Willie has been employed at SSUMC since 1991 and he still looks forward to coming to work each and every day. He enjoys being of service, has made many friends over the years, and is truly belovevd by the congregation.

Growing up in Athens, GA, Willie worked selling cokes at Georgia Bulldog football games as a boy. He loves all Bulldog sports and enjoys watching and going to games. In his spare time he enjoys working in his garden and watching old westerns. He and his wife live in Powder Springs and enjoy dining out and spending time with family.