Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and University of Georgia sophomore Mary Evelyn Brock

Meet the Rev. Jamey Prickett! Jamey is an associate pastor at Gainesville First United Methodist Church. Jamey is married to Sharon, both graduated from North Hall High School, and they have two sons Cohen, 14 and Jaden, 17. He has been at GFUMC for three years.
“Part of my responsibility at the church is to oversee the outreach and mission of our church that connects our church to the community, and we have been doing a variety of things (during COVID-19). For example there’s a community that we serve in the north end of the county (Riverbend School district) that we have partnered with and the school was giving out 140 lunches a day and then when they had spring break, we picked that up and we served those families a breakfast and lunch every day so we were giving out 280 meals every day for five days and then the school started back but we kept it up on Fridays… this all comes through donations in the community and from the church.”
GFUMC also has partnered with local dentist Mark Causey to make masks for local healthcare workers.
In his office he has a 3D printer and has been making masks out of that. Us and St. Johns Baptist have partnered with him in helping assemble the cushion lines around them and to add straps. We gave out 700 masks last week to medical staff last week at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Some of our older members who still sew have been making masks and we have been getting those out to local pharmacists and doctor offices and emergency medical professionals.”
We want to thank Pastor Prickett for recently spending time with us and telling us more about his life and love of Hall County.

Question: Where did the idea of the #GVLCARRYON hashtag come from?
Answer: “Where that got started was when we were told to isolate and be home, one evening I was thinking about how we stay connected and show the good that’s going on in our community. I reached out to a handful of folks and told them ‘Hey, I’m thinking about creating this hashtag’ and some people that I know on social media and I said what would be cool is if we could come up with a way to stay connected on social media and show that people are still carrying on during this time; and what we came up with was Gainesville Carry On.
“It’s a way to pay attention to what our neighbors are doing and how are they carrying on during this time. We are just having fun with it and we expanded it into a segment on our worship that’s called Gainesville Carry on and it highlights through videos or pictures sent in. It’s just a way to keep community alive during this time.”

Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
A: “Well, I didn’t grow up in church, but then I had some inspiring/moving experiences in my life in my teenage years when I was in 11th and 12th grade. My grandfather was a huge role model in my life and when he was diagnosed with cancer and I witnessed him going through that with such a strong faith. It really just moved me to think that there’s got be some faith and God and church, so that set me on a journey. I went to the church that he was involved with and probably within a year or two of doing that I felt that I was being called into the ministry and I followed that and went to college and grad school down at Emory University at the Chandler School of Theology and got a masters degree. I have been in the Methodist ministry for a while now, I started at a church in Braselton and then went to a church plant in downtown Canton for eight years and I have been here in Gainesville for three years.”

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County, and what do you love there?
A: “We enjoy eating at Atlas Pizza on the Square. We always try something different.” 

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met in Hall County and why?
A: “Doug Carter because he’s voted the most interesting man in Gainesville. He’s a leader in our community but he’s also a lot of fun to be around. He’s a great person.”

Q: What is your favorite childhood memory?
A: “One of my favorite childhood memories is playing in the creek at Wilshire Park Trail.” 

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would go back to Africa. I’d go back to Kenya and just connect with some folks I met when I was there and just reconnect with them” – was in Africa eight years ago.”

Q: What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “It was a ‘Star Wars’ movie but I don’t remember which one.” 

Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: “I would say something like live for the sake of others, you know commit yourself to making someone else’s life better.”

Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “I want to write a book.”

Q: What is your favorite music/ three bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “I am a country music fan. I’m a big Eric Church fan and I got to hang out with Chris Stapleton before he was big so that’d be cool to see him again and the Allman Brothers Band.”

Q: What local business makes you the most nostalgic about Hall County and why?
A: “I guess Greens Grocery… I remember going in there as a kid and getting soda drinks like little Cokes with grandparents.”

Q: Choosing anyone (past or present and a non-relative), with whom would you love to have lunch?  And where locally would you have this lunch?
A: “I would go to 2 Dog for lunch with Desmond Tutu. He was one of my professors at Emory.”

Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “My favorite thing about Hall County is I love how people step up and help one another that even though it is a growing county it still has a feel where we look after our neighbors.”

Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “I am still going to be in ministry and serving other people.”

Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “I went sky diving with my mom when she turned 60 and I would do it again. That was her 60th birthday present.” 

Q: What three words mean “Home” to you?
A: “Family and faith and back porch.”

Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?
A: “I think John Krasinski like from ‘The Office.’ That dude seems like a really cool guy to hang out with.” 

Q: If you had a full-time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose?
A: “Dr. Frank Wagner he is retired.”