People

If there’s one thing Lynn Williams has learned about FBC Gainesville, it’s this: every time she thinks her chapter here is closing, God opens another door. Lynn first joined our staff in the fall of 2006 as the Associate Pastor for Families, and over the years she grew into the role of full-time Executive Pastor — a position she held until her retirement in 2021. But retirement didn’t last. When FBC entered a season of transition, Lynn answered the call to return…

If you think “church administrator” sounds like spreadsheets and scheduling, you haven’t met Greg Magruder. Greg is a pastor at heart who happens to express that calling through stewardship, service, and making sure the ministry of FBC runs on solid ground. He began serving as our Administrator in January 2024, bringing with him decades of pastoral experience and a deep love for the local church. Before joining our staff, Greg retired in August 2020 after twenty years as pastor of…

You can call him “Ray.” You can call him “Pastor Ray.” You can even call him “Dr. Jay” — but you don’t have to call him Johnson. (If you get that reference, you’re going to fit right in at FBC.) Ray’s path to our pulpit is one of those stories that only God could write. After fifteen years as the Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida and the Caribbean Islands, he retired on June 30, 2022, ready for a quieter…

Some people study music; Marshall Haning lives it, teaches it, and offers it back to God every Sunday. As an Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Florida, Marshall spends his weekdays shaping the next generation of choral music educators, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education, research methods, and related topics. But when Sunday morning arrives, all of that expertise finds its truest home — leading our congregation in worship. For Marshall, music in the sanctuary is…

Brenda Cohen’s story at FBC is one of the most beautiful things about a church that pays attention to how God works. She didn’t arrive as an outside hire with a polished ministry plan — she was planted right here. When Brenda and her husband Dick became “sacred partners” with FBC by joining the membership around 2019, she came with a heart that had already been beating for missions for years. She had volunteered in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and other countries,…