About – Connell Memorial United Methodist Church

Our Story

Welcome to Connell Memorial United Methodist Church. We are a church rich in history, community, and tradition. We are located at 113 Church Street in Goodlettsville, TN. We celebrate our Christian faith with worship every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. with an assembly time and Sunday School following. We offer a number of ways for people of all ages to get involved. Whatever your circumstances, we invite you into this community. Together we worship, pray and strive for a deeper relationship with Christ. Connell Memorial United Methodist is a church with roots reaching back to the founding of Goodlettsville at Mansker’s Station in 1779. We look forward to continuing the care that has been the hallmark of our congregation through its storied and faithful history.

Our Mission

+ Build a Christian community where believers and non-believers will become fully devoted disciples of Christ

+ See a transformed community of disciples who are passionate about Jesus

+ We are God-centered. We are people-focused. We are team-based

+ To reach out to nurture this community in love

Our Staff

LEAD PASTOR

Chris Seifert

Chris Seifert was born in Madison, Tennessee, raised in Hendersonville, and graduated from Beech High School (1989). After an enjoyable but academically unproductive year at the University of Tennessee, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy submarine service, serving six years. In 1996 he returned to Nashville and worked as a technician traveling North and South America.

In 1997, he surrendered his life to Christ, began volunteering with a church youth ministry, and soon found himself serving as the youth minister.

In 2002, Chris made another attempt at college, finding the second time around to be much more productive. He then graduated from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2009.

Chris has served as pastor of churches in Lawrence and Giles counties, as well as Hermitage, TN before arriving here at Connell Memorial UMC in February of 2022.

In 2009, Chris married Cynthia, who serves as a priest in the Episcopal Church. They have a young daughter (Abby) who still at home and two grown daughters (Ashton and Cassi).

Chris loves football (Go Titans! Go ‘Dores) and listening to music.

pastor of community life

Rev Sarah E McWhirt-Toler

Rev. Sarah McWhirt-Toler is an ordained deacon of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. Sarah is a native of middle Tennessee having graduated from high school in Hendersonville and college at Belmont University. She holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School where she sought out specialized training in age-level ministries. Sarah is currently beginning a Doctor of Ministry program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary focused on Creative Writing and Public Theology.

She is a contributor to Growing in God’s Love: A Storybook Bible (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), and she regularly writes curriculum and guides for The Upper Room and Westminster John Knox Press. Sarah brings an enthusiasm for sharing God’s love with all God’s people and equipping people to grow in their love of God and neighbor.

When not working, Sarah can be found with her spouse, Clay, who has too many cats and too many kazoos, and daughter, Frances, who is too cute and too mischievous. Sarah buys too much yarn and stays up too late on most Saturday nights watching the Nashville Soccer Club.