SMLC Staff
Andrea Bates
Pastor
Pastor Andrea Bates grew up in small-town Nebraska. As the daughter of a Pastor and Deacon in the ELCA, she was always involved in church activities. She attended Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, where she met her husband Kyle. During time at Lenoir-Rhyne, she took elementary education and social work courses, eventually graduating in 2009 with a degree in Human and Community Services. She spent her summers on staff at Carol Joy Holling and Lutheridge, where she began to discern a call to ministry.
Pastor Andrea attended Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) where she graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. She completed her internship at Faith Lutheran in Sarasota, FL and spent a year as the Interim Associate Pastor at St. Paul Lutheran in Aiken, SC. Upon graduating from seminary, she was called to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Welcome and ordained (Aug. 11, 2017). In June of 2021 she and Pastor Kyle began serving as Co-Pastors at St. Michael.
Pastor Andrea loves building relationships over a good cup of coffee or a pint of craft beer, and watching her two-year-old Eva discover God’s world. When she finds herself with free time, she enjoys crafting, photography and getting outside.
Kyle Bates
Pastor
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Pastor Kyle Bates grew up in Mount Pleasant, SC. A first generation Lutheran, Kyle grew up a member of St. Matthew’s Lutheran, Charleston, being active in youth, music, and worship. He attended Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, where he met his wife and partner, Pastor Andrea, while majoring in Theology and minoring in Sacred Music. His summers away from the classroom were spent on summer staff as a counselor and area director at Lutheridge in Arden, NC.
In 2013, Pastor Kyle enrolled at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) where he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. Upon graduating from seminary in 2017, Kyle was ordained and called to Wittenberg Lutheran Church in Granite Quarry, NC. In June of 2021 Pastors Kyle and Andrea began serving together as Co-Pastors at St. Michael.
If you’re looking for Pastor Kyle outside of worship, he can be found at the nearest brewery, behind a table playing a game, enjoying fun conversation with folks, and chasing his daughter Eva around the house!
Charlie Jones
Organist and Music Director
The son of Charles and Frances Jones, Charlie was born in Greenville on 12 November 1951. A piano student of former Greenville Symphony conductor, Peter Rickett, Charlie began playing piano for Mountain Creek Baptist Church at the age of 12. It was here that he learned that Church Music was a ministry of call. He graduated from Furman University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts – cum laude – in history and education.
Charlie came to St. Michael in 1986 as organist after serving in the same position at Lee Road United Methodist for 10 years. In 2019, Charlie retired from Pecknel Music after forty years working with print music and management.
Active in the local arts community, he is a member of the Greenville Chorale where he has served as President and Board Member; The American Guild of Organists, where he as served as both sub-dean and dean; and the Greenville Music Club.
Raised in a “green thumb” family, Charlie is an avid gardener, loves to read, cross-stitch and collect Dept. 56 Christmas Villages.
Ellen Bradshaw
Administrative Assistant
Ellen Bradshaw is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina and now lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina. She attended both Coastal Carolina University as well as University of North Carolina Wilmington where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
She has several years of experience in Church Administration as well as Organization. As a former Professional Home Organizer, helping others get organized is her passion and she is more than happy to help if you ever need some organizing advice!
In her free time she enjoys finding the best restaurants in town with her fiance and playing with the two biggest joys in her life, her two dogs, Crash and Izzy!
Parish Custodian