Rev. Dr. Jay L. Fraze has served as Senior Pastor of First Methodist Church since June 2024.  Having served as the Associate Pastor a decade ago, Pastor Jay was honored to be able to return to Corsicana and call the community home.

Jay is an Ordained Elder in the Global Methodist Church and is honored to serve as the Dean of the Cabinet of the Mid-Texas Provisional Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church.  Over the past 35 years, (including a 10-year wilderness wandering in the business world) he has served numerous churches as laity, staff, and clergy in churches large and small.  One of Pastor Jay’s passions is to see the church ‘stop sharing sheep between pastures’ and find new ways to reach new people for Christ.  His recent book, Evangelism for Today-Offering Christ the Way God Created Us, seeks to do just that by looking at where the Methodist Movement lost momentum and how we can recapture the spirit of evangelism today.

Jay has been married to his beautiful bride Renee since October 1996 and together they have 3 amazing children: Reagan, Garrin, and Evan.  When he is not serving in his ministerial capacity, Jay can be found spending time with his family, enjoying the outdoors, or sharing the beauty of God’s underwater world with others as a Master Scuba Diver Trainer.

Jerod Casey serves as Pastor of The Current Contemporary Service and Associate Pastor/Young Adults Pastor on staff at FMC Corsicana. He displays a great love and passion for Christ and previously served as the pastor at Wesley UMC in Corsicana. Jerod is currently in the process of becoming a deacon within the Global Methodist Church. He enjoys spending time with his beautiful family, playing guitar, and golf. Jerod and his wife, Amy celebrate four children: Ellie, Greyson, Ava, and Grady. His life verse is Isaiah 40:30-31; in keeping our faith in Christ, we are able to rise above the obstacles we encounter in our lives.

Retiring from public education service in December 2022, Lisa is eager to partner in sharing the joy of discovering and knowing Christ with our children. She sees it as a return to missions she enjoyed in high school and college to areas in South Texas, and a very special orphanage in Matamoros, Mexico. Lisa has served children ages 3 - 22 in the public education roles of: Special Education, Transition, and 504 coordinators, and was delighted to lead the opening and five year direction of Corsicana ISD's first Early Learning Center for 3 and 4 year olds.  Her previous elementary campus was rated Exemplary and recognized as a best practices Title I Distinguished school. 

A teambuilder by nature, she credits the amazing educators she's been blessed to recruit and support over the years. Lisa's best teammate, husband of 32 years, Joe M. West, has been her stalwart pillar of strength throughout, and also looks forward to helping her rebuild the many thriving pre-COVID era children's ministries at FMC. 

Since 2003, Donna Jackson has been the Preschool Director here at First Methodist Church. She was also the Children’s Director at our church for 12 years. Donna has been a member of First Methodist Church her whole life and is very involved in the  Methodist Women group.  

Donna graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with an Information Science degree. Married since 1989 to Matt Jackson, Matt works at Guidestone Financials in Dallas. They have two children, Brittney and Parker. Parker is married to Charitye and they have one child Casen.

Cindy Harrison has been involved in music for over thirty years, and began her career in Wisconsin. She holds degrees in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin, Vocal Performance from Northwestern University, and Administrator Leadership in Teaching and Learning from Walden University. She has taught music at every level Kindergarten through Graduate, and has served on the faculty at LaGrange College (Georgia), John Brown University (Arkansas), and at the University of Memphis (Tennessee). She has performed in opera, oratorio, recital, and theatre all over the country, and has been stage director for over twenty productions, and served on the staff at Opera Memphis. In addition to currently serving as Director of Music and Worship at FMC, she also serves on the faculty at Navarro College in Corsicana.

Cindy is married to Joseph Harrison, a retired Army veteran and has two daughters.

Cindy and her husband have remodeled numerous homes and she has a "not-so-secret" passion for power tools. She also raises bees and loves to travel whenever she can, but her number one passion is serving Christ wherever He leads.

Karen has been in church music ministry since the age of 4.  She was in children and youth choirs all through her public school years.  After high school, she attended Tyler Junior College and Baylor University. While at TJC, she was a member of the Apache Bells (she performed at the first Super Bowl the Cowboy's won) and a member of the Singing Apaches. While attending Baylor she worked summers at Navarro Regional Hospital as summer relief and there met her husband, Jim. After their marriage, Karen became a full time employee of Navarro Regional Hospital and retired after 40 years of service. Karen joined First Methodist in 1979 after the birth of their daughter, Ellen, and continued her activities in music ministry. She has been a member of the Sanctuary Choir for over 30 years, a member of the Adult Handbell Choir for over 25 years, directed two children's handbell choirs, one children's chime choir, directed one children's choir, lead music in the 5-6th Grade Sunday School Department for over 10 years, organized a Wednesday night children's bible study and helped direct the Children's Christmas musicals for 10 years. In 2012 Karen was hired to direct the Adult Handbell Choir.

Ron Holden is The Current Worship Leader and has been involved in Christian music for over 30 years. Ron was a Police Officer from 1986 until leaving law enforcement in 2004. He and his wife, Tina, have been married for 33 years and have three children, one grandchild, and another grandchild on the way. In 1996, Ron was invited to sing in the Promise Keepers Choir at Texas Stadium. He was able to sing back up to Fernando Ortega along with the great singers from the Promise Keepers Worship Team dramatically transforming his life. Ron joined up with three other men from the Promise Keepers choir and formed the group, Legacy. They recorded two CDs and had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country singing and praising Jesus. Over the years, Ron has served as a worship leader and has been part of worship bands. Ron says, “there is nothing greater in this life than to praise God our Father, lift the name of Jesus Christ, and feel the power and presence of the Holy Spirit through music.” One of Ron’s many favorite verses comes from Psalm 95:1 “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation."

A native of Florida, Amanda Hughes has distinguished herself in the world of music as a pianist, organist, composer, and pedagogue. As a pianist, she has given several solo and chamber recitals across the USA and Europe. She gave her first full solo recital at the age of eight, and made her orchestral debut at age 16 as a winner of the Ars Flores Young Artist Concerto Competition, performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 25. In 2006, she was a prize winner in the Madelyn Saverick Piano Competition and was chosen as the alternate winner in the senior state division of the Music Teacher’s National Associate (MTNA) Competition. She was also chosen to represent the US as the International Music Laureate. In May of 2013, she premiered the music of the Russian composer, pianist, and former professor, Vladimir Drozdoff, at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and presented original research on the composer. In addition to having an active performance life, Amanda has composed over eighty works, including both solo and chamber music. In 1999, she was chosen as a top five winner of the New England Conservatory Composition Competition. She has been featured in five full length articles and has also made numerous appearances on public radio.

Amanda pursued her undergraduate studies in piano at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL, and continued her education at Northwestern University where she earned her master’s degree in Piano Performance. Amanda completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Houston, where she was awarded a music fellowship and accepted into the studio of legendary pianist and recording artist Abbey Simon.

She began her organ studies with Ms. Margaret Kemper at Northwestern University and later with Mrs. Christina Harmon, a former adjunct professor of music at Stephen F. Austin State University and a full-time church musician and composer. Amanda has been active as a church musician for ten years and currently holds a position as the organist at the First United Methodist Church in Corsicana, TX. In 2018, Amanda performed in a masterclass for organist Ken Cowan as part of the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. A year later, Amanda attended the 2019 French Organ Music Seminar in Paris where she participated in masterclasses with many prominent organists. While in France, Amanda studied with Jean-Baptiste Robin at the Conservatoire in Versailles and gave one of the first French performances of his piece Hands of Time.

Aside from performing, Amanda has a passion for teaching and believes that the greatest reward is being able to pass on knowledge to aspiring musicians. Amanda currently holds a full-time position at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas where she heads the piano department, teaches Music Theory, Ear Training, Class Piano, gives private lessons, and assists the choirs by accompanying and leading sectionals. Amanda also has a private studio where she teaches students of all ages and levels.

Dawn oversees the daily operations of the building, coordinates capital projects, manages building staff, and administers the finances of the church and day school.

Dora serves as hostess for First Methodist's many events and programs.