Leadership at Relevant Church
A team of people helping people live out their purpose in Jesus Christ.
Meet the leadership team of Relevant Church. Since day one, Relevant's leadership has been dedicated to doing everything short of sin to reach those far from God. Get in touch by following the email links in the bios.
Carl & Julie
Nichols
Pastor Carl Nichols is the visionary leader and shepherd of Relevant Church. He and Julie grew up not far from Locust Grove and moved here to launch the church in 2010. Under their guidance and unwavering commitment to faith, Relevant Church has grown into a vibrant spiritual community, whose impact extends far beyond the church walls. They are not only spiritual leaders, but also passionate advocates for justice and compassion. Together with the Relevant Church community, they are championing the cause of human trafficking rescue and rehabilitation.
As Lead Pastor, Carl's primary responsibilities include weekly teaching, leadership development, and directional leadership of the church. In addition, Carl helps direct the Church Leadership Network, a national leadership development network for pastors and church leaders, as well as a national church planting initiative.
As the Executive Director of Culture and Development, Julie works to ensure that Relevant's staff, leadership, and programs align with the church's mission, vision, values, and culture.
Together, Carl and Julie have two boys that they homeschool, and love to travel with and create experiences together as a family. Carl loves sports, especially the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and Dawgs. Julie loves shopping and dreaming big for her family and her church.
Leadership Team
In his role as Executive Pastor of Operations, Mark focuses on administration, systems, budgets, facilities, and teaching.
As Relevant's Creative Director, Brandon oversees and protects all visual and experiential aspects of the church, ensuring alignment with the mission, vision and identity.
In her role as the Ministries Director, Renee' provides leadership to the next generation teams (babies to young adults), foster care and missions teams.
In her role as Children’s Director, Amanda focuses on content and development of children ages 6 weeks through 5th grade.
In his role as Youth Pastor, Daniel builds leaders, systems, and culture that create environments for middle and high school students to take their next step toward Jesus.
In her role as Young Adults Director, Jocelyn concentrates on fellowship, discipleship, and fun for adults ages 18-30.
She’s newly married, a coffee enthusiast, and someone who finds joy in the little things—whether it’s deep conversations, acoustic worship nights, or getting creative behind the scenes.
At Relevant Church, Melanie serves as the Assistant Worship Pastor. She helps lead multiple worship services each week, mentors student worship leaders, and works closely with the Next Gen team to create worship environments that are authentic, Spirit-led, and full of purpose.
Rick loves music of all venues, singing, watching football, camping, spending time at water environments, mountains, and fire pits. Rick enjoys hanging out with family and friends, He loves to experience laughter and funny situations. Rick is legendarily known for his love of potatoes, something he requires to eat on a daily basis!
In her role as Guest Services Director, Kim leads all volunteers in our Guest Services ministry. She is also responsible for the guest experience by creating enjoyable and transformative environments.
In his role as Production Director, Austin oversees all aspects of production tech, including lights, cameras, speakers, and screens, ensuring every detail is finely tuned for a seamless experience.
In her role as the Connections Director, Tonya is the guiding force behind the assimilation journey for our VIPs (new guests). She leads them from being newcomers to becoming fully engaged partners of Relevant Church. She accomplishes this through the Welcome to Relevant and Heart and Soul experiences. Additionally, Tonya spearheads our L.I.F.E. Groups, where individuals can continue their spiritual growth journey and passionately pursue their purpose in Christ Jesus.
In his role as Music Director, Shawn focuses primarily on the implementation of Multitracks, Song Resources, and helps navigate the band in order to provide a technically smooth environment for our worship experiences. “It is my job to honor every musician and vocalist. By providing these resources and knowledge, this allows our team to come in more prepared and relaxed; creating a space for the Holy Spirit to move.”
In his role as The Good Life Coordinator, Chad focuses on developing leaders, creating safe environments for vulnerability, supporting next step decisions.