Staff & Leadership
Rev. Carrie A. Wright Minister of Worship Arts/Associate Pastor
Direct Line: 980-859-2851
Carrie is a proud graduate of Western Carolina University with a B.S Ed. in Education (Music) and holds a Masters of Sacred Music from Perkins School of Theology/Souther Methodist University. Her love of music began at 8 years old when her mom encouraged her to start taking piano lessons. From there it snowballed into many other instruments and musical study. She never dreamed she would lead worship or even sing out loud in front of people but God is always full of surprises! Carrie is passionate about leading worship that engages hearts, minds, and souls into an experience of the holy. She loves both traditional and contemporary worship and everything in between especially when it’s all mixed together in the same service. Carrie is an Ordained Deacon in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. In her free time Carrie loves to bake pastries for the staff at HLUMC, run and bike, play fetch with her border collie, Lucy and do various home repair projects. Carrie and her husband Clay have 4 children, Eleana, Kaden, Zane and Nina
Ornella Umubyeyi
Youth Director
Youth Director
Ornella Umubyeyi calls Rwanda, Burundi and Shelby, North Carolina, her homes. She has resided in three countries and two continents. Speaking five languages might seem impressive but not to her-when she has a father that speaks 7! During her high school years, in Massachusetts, she played varsity soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball and cross-country. She was a radio host in Wisconsin when she was attending college. Her radio show played African Christian music while touching on Spirituality and inequality topics. While doing her Masters in Chicago, she organized a conference called “L.A.W: ‘Let Africa Worship’ where various African worship choirs from all over the state of Illinois came to worship in African style and native languages. She later moved to North Carolina to complete her Doctor of Ministry in Boiling Spring. While attending Gardner-Webb University, she organized and coordinated an International Thanksgiving dinner with dishes from Liberia, Hungary, Iraq, Kenya, Canada, to France, and many more.
Her interests are in the use of art and dance to express mental illness and as a tool for self-empowerment. She is passionate about social justice issues, playing video games, writing poetry, doing photography and watching videos of pandas on Youtube.
David Dorsey
Kitchen Host
Direct Line: 980-859-2853