Frye, Travis will join cabinet in June
Two clergy members from Wytheville District will be appointed as district superintendents this June, Bishop James Swanson announced.
The Rev. Randy Frye, pastor at First Pulaski United Methodist Church, is projected for appointment to the Johnson City District. The Rev. Mike Travis, pastor at Dublin UMC, will become superintendent of the Cleveland District.
Frye and Travis are the first new district superintendents to join the cabinet under Bishop Swanson's leadership. Swanson became Holston's resident bishop in September 2004.
Both Frye and Travis said they were surprised by Bishop Swanson's telephone calls, offering them district leadership appointments.
Frye, age 48, will follow the Rev. Mahan Archer as superintendent in the Johnson City District. Archer will retire in June, Swanson said.
"We've never gone to or served in ministries that we anticipated, but in every one of them, there was a clear reason why we went," Frye said, referring to his wife Vicki. "We could always look back and say, 'Here is how God was using us and our strengths in ministry.'"
"I never expected to be doing this," Frye continued, "but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm glad the Bishop thought of me. But it's going to stretch me and change me and move me out of my comfort zone, which is how God uses us best."
Travis, age 61, will follow the Rev. Charles Lippse as Cleveland District superintendent. Lippse was appointed to lead Cleveland last fall, following the election of former Cleveland District Superintendent Mary Virginia "Dindy" Taylor to the episcopacy.
"I consider it an honor to be asked. It's kind of an awesome thing," Travis said, less than two hours after Swanson's telephone call. "I've thought of the new things I'll have to learn and the responsibilities of the job. It really hasn't sunk in yet."
Frye's pastoral record includes appointments in Wytheville District (Cedar Springs Charge, First Pulaski), Morristown District (First Morristown), Chattanooga District (Harrison), and Kingsport District (First Broad Street). For three years, he has served as chair of Holston's Missions Team, traveling overseas to represent his conference or district numerous times. His home church is St. Andrews UMC in Knoxville District.
Frye's daughter, Erin, is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. His son, William, is a senior in high school.
Travis' pastoral record includes appointments in Maryville District (Sweetwater Parish, Madisonville Circuit, Oakland-Meadow), Wytheville District (Blue Ridge Circuit, Dublin), Cleveland District (Tasso, Mount Carmel), Morristown District (Pine Grove Circuit), and Kingsport District (Cassidy). He currently serves on Holston's Pastoral Counseling Center Supervisory Committee and the Commission on Equitable Compensation and is chair of his District Council on Ministries. His home church is Mountain View UMC in Maryville District.
Travis and his wife, Teresa, have a daughter, Kymberly, who works for Clayton County schools in Georgia, and a son, Andy, who is a schoolteacher in Charlotte, N.C. The couple has two grandchildren.
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