Hi, I'm Ray Reavis, the pastor of New Zion United Methodist Church in Smyrna, South Carolina.  I'm delighted you have stopped by our website, and I'm even more excited that you may stop by and pay us a visit!

I am new to this congregation, being appointed here in June of 2008.  I'm honored to be able to serve in a church that has been serving God and His people since about 1890 here in western York County.  I've already gotten to know and love this congregation, and I'm sure you will love them, too.

You clicked on the "meet the pastor" link to get here, so I suppose I should spend a little time telling you about myself, and how I wound up in Western York County serving as a methodist pastor.

I was born and raised in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina, about 2 hours northeast of Smyrna.  I was a computer geek by trade, writing software and managing technology projects for various outfits from universities to banks.  While doing this, I served God and my church by teaching Sunday School classes for adult singles, playing music in a praise band, playing music with a southern Gospel band, and working in evangelism within the local church.

I felt God tugging at me, wanting me to do more.  I wasn't sure how that was going to shape up, but if you read the scriptures you'll see that whenever God calls someone to His ministry, things change in their lives.  So now I'm serving in a capacity that allows me to fulfill my calling to help others encounter God in a special way.

I'm a very imperfect man serving a perfect God.  I believe God's grace is greater than the sum of all of your trangressions.  I'm not out to put anyone through a guilt trip.  After all, your debt has been paid in full.  The only thing left for me to do is to walk with you on your journey of faith -- sometimes teaching, sometimes leading by example, and often just listening to you share the story of your journey.

My beautiful wife Vicki and I live in Lake Wylie, South Carolina with our sons Zakk (17), Jeremy (8), and our daughter Rachel (3).  We all would love to see you at church next Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor Ray