Brandon Bates
Director of Youth Ministries
Perhaps you have seen me around, I am the shortish, round, balding guy, with what is left of my red hair. I am single, I have an older brother, and am the son of Ben and Gelene Bates. I was born and raised in Beebe, and have been in the United Methodist Church my entire life. I graduated from Beebe High School in 1998, attended Hendrix College, and graduated from there with a degree in History in 2002.
I was active in my local youth group in Beebe, as well as the District, Conference, and Jurisdiction. I continued to be involved with the former Batesville District as its adult youth coordinator and the former Little Rock and North Arkansas Conferences as an adult. I was the Little Rock Conference Youth Coordinator up until the merger, and am currently the Arkansas Conference Youth Coordinator. As you can tell, youth ministry is what I love, and is what God has called me to do. My first youth ministering gig was at Goddard UMC in Ft. Smith for the summer of 1999. Since then I have served White Hall UMC, St. Paul UMC in Searcy, and Benton FUMC before arriving here.