Pastor Dyan has served as Senior Pastor at Trinity since July 2020. She and her husband, Mike, have six children, and five grandchildren (with granddaughter #6 due in April). Dyan and Mike are both originally from Minnesota, but they have lived in North Texas since 1994, and currently live in Hickory Creek. Dyan has a Bachelor’s Degree from TWU, a Masters in Divinity from Brite Divinity School (TCU), and a Masters in Theology in Biblical Studies from Brite as well. She is a published author and editor. Dyan was ordained in 2014, and has served as an Associate Pastor at Lake Cities UMC in Lake Dallas, and as Senior Pastor at First UMC in Bonham and at Lakeway UMC in Pottsboro, and serves on the North Texas Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. Her passion is preaching and worship, and her hobbies include gardening, cooking, relaxing at their cabin, and Dallas Stars Hockey.
Trish joined TUMC as the church’s administrative assistant in March 2023. She enjoys her position with the church, as it has afforded her the opportunity to get to know many of her church family and allows her to better understand all that takes place behind the scenes, to create the welcoming, fun, fulfilling and inclusive Sundays and programs that she has enjoyed for the past several months.
In addition to her role with the church, Trish operates her own technical recruiting business where she specializes in placing architectural and engineering professionals and support staff in firms in DFW, San Antonio and Phoenix.
Trish is married to Tristan, who she describes as a “pretty swell guy”! Together they have five children, Emilee, Kimberlee, TJ, Maxwell & Olivia. She can talk about any or all of them for hours! Her family is her priority and she and Tristan spend the majority of their time scheduling baseball around basketball and basketball around dance and dance around drum lessons and so on an so forth; they stay busy and that makes them happy.
When she finds free time, Trish enjoys photography. She has a knack for sports photography and also loves getting creative with children’s photos and senior portraits.
Donna is originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, and ended up in Texas when her deceased husband retired after 22 years in the Air Force in 1990. She graduated at age 40 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. In 2012, she retired from Allergan Pharmaceuticals where she worked in the eye care division as a sales analyst. In 2009, she married Larry Terrill and became part of a blended family. Her blended family includes her two adult sons and Larry’s two adult daughters. Together she and Larry have seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. When she’s not crunching numbers for the church, she enjoys canning, food preparation and crocheting. Donna became part of the Trinity family in 2016 and she attends the 8:30 service.
Kailey MacAllister & Jordan MacAllister
Director of Youth Ministries | kaileymacallister@trinitydenton.org
Kailey is Trinity’s Youth Director and Jordan is the Assistant Youth Director. In these roles, the two sisters look after, coordinate, and lead our Trinity Tribe by providing spiritual and personal guidance in all aspects of life.
Kailey was born in Columbus, Texas and shortly after the MacAllister family moved to North Texas. Jordan was born in North Texas after the family move. They have two older brothers, Greg and Garrett, and collectively as a family have 2 dogs, Maggie & Milo!
In High School, Kailey was involved in Orchestra and FFA (Future Farmers of America). She raised pigs and was involved in Entomology, Meat, Dairy and Wool Judging, and a little bit of Ag Mech! Through FFA, Kailey met her Fiancé, Trent, who is a wonderful asset to Trinity as well. Kailey and Trent are set to get married next October at Trinity!
Kailey’s favorite things to do are spend time with friends and family, travel and craft! Aside from Youth Ministry, Kailey is a Substitute Teacher for Denton ISD, a babysitter, and a Nanny!
When Jordan was in High School, she was heavily involved in Competitive Cheer at Excite! Gym and Cheer in Highland Village while coaching as well. She is currently also working full time as a Coach for competitive cheerleading, tumbling, and preschool gymnastics.
Jordan is currently in school at NCTC aiming to obtain her degree in Elementary Education and looks forward to her future in shaping young minds. Her favorite things to do are tumble and kayak.
Marcy was born in Chicago. When she was seven years old, the family moved to the small town of Roselle, Illinois. Marcy has two older sisters and a younger sister, and says they had a real “Leave it to Beaver” childhood. Rain or shine the family walked to Roselle Methodist Church together. Marcy’s parents were loving, kind, and funny. At 16, she went off to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and spent two years there. In her second year, she went to Iowa State University for a homecoming dance and fell in love (not with the boy) with the Child Development lab schools and transferred to Iowa State the next Fall. Marcy received a double degree in Special Education and Child Development. She stayed there and taught in the lab school for her Master’s in Education, and then taught in a children’s hospital and ran its recreational therapy department. In 1970, they moved to Texas, and she had the opportunity to teach for Birdville ISD! Marcy, and seven other teachers around the State, were hired to set up the first public kindergartens in Texas.
Since then, she has taught Pre-k, kindergarten, first, second, and third grade for Hurst, Euless, Bedford ISD. In later years, she was at different times a pre-k coordinator, kindergarten coordinator, and first grade coordinator. Marcy earned an ESL degree and a Master’s in Gifted and Talented with Exceptionality. She studied at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital and is a dyslexia/ autism trainer. Marcy also has a tutoring business. She taught in public schools for 35 years. All of this, plus loving and raising four wonderful children: Jason, Jeremy, Kristin, and Bethany. Marcy and her husband, Rock, have nine adorable grandchildren. They visited Trinity UMC in January 2004, and when John Peel suggested they get married in the church, they did on July 23. Rock and Marcy are a Yorkshire Terrier rescue. They also love to swim, read, and just hang out together. She felt a calling to nurture and empower the children at Trinity, and says it is so rewarding and they are having a ball together!
Bethany Adams
Assistant Children’s Director
Bethany’s life’s work and passion is teaching children and giving them the tools they need to be successful, and she feels called by God to spread his love through kindness. She is a Fifth grade ESL Reading and Writing teacher for Denton ISD. She has a ten year old daughter who keeps her very busy, and she loves reading fantasy novels, cross stitch, and gardening, and she is excited to be part of our TUMC staff!
Rachel Tillman
Children’s Worship Arts Director | racheltillman@trinitydenton.org
Rachel was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She moved to Texas to go to college and has lived here since. Rachel graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of North Texas with a BA in English Language Arts with a Concentration in Secondary Teaching and a Minor in Spanish. Her Masters work was done at Texas Woman’s University in Secondary Language Acquisition. Rachel taught for 11 years in traditional schools of all sizes.
Rachel is a published writer and poet and an award-winning photographer and graphic designer. She has been a motivational speaker since the age of 10.
Rachel loves spending time with her Mom and sister. She has dogs and a cat.
As a disabled person with a speech impediment, who is legally blind, Rachel wants to encourage everyone to try and not let their circumstances get them down! She loves music and has many hobbies including acting, photography, karate, dance, cooking, arts & crafts, nature, reading, writing and singing.
Trinity is blessed to have Marcin as the organist/pianist. He is truly a dynamic musician with a sensitive touch. It is a joy to watch as well as listen to him perform.
Born in Kraków (Poland) in 1984, Marcin acquired an interest in playing the piano at an early age. He studied under many acclaimed Polish musicians. Since his first performance at age 9, he has taken part in many competitions and performances worldwide. Marcin has won first place in many competitions in Italy, Israel, Poland, and the United States.
Marcin completed his B.A. at the Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland, his M.A. at the Oklahoma City University, and his DMA at the University of North Texas where he was a recipient of a full scholarship and a teaching position as a Teaching Fellow.
In addition to his accompanying the choir and providing special music at Trinity, he holds the position of an Adjunct Professor at the Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, TX, teaches classes of young students at a school in Arlington, and performs and accompanies others in the area. Marcin has also recorded multiple CD’s. Make sure you get one for your collection!
When not working, Marcin loves adventures. He likes to travel and recently went skydiving. He has bungie jumped, zip-lined, and other exciting activities.
Tawny is originally from Houston but has lived in Denton since coming here in 2001 for her Masters in Music at University of North Texas studying opera performance. She had a career as a professional opera singer but decided to settle down and have a family. Tawny is married to Brian, a successful Realtor, and has two daughters, Ella (age 13) and Kelly (age 9), along with a golden retriever named Daisy. Tawny has been Director of Music Ministries at Trinity United Methodist Church since 2015 and has been a member since 2008. She has raised her kids in this church and considers it her church home. Her Trinity duties include worship planning, directing and participating in several of the music ensembles, coordinating music for special events, and encouraging a love of music at church. Besides directing the music at church, Tawny works full-time as the choir director at Harpool Middle School in Denton ISD. In her spare time (when she has it), Tawny enjoys spending time with her family, reading, taking walks or hikes, and watching “The Office”. Making music with others and helping people grow in their love of music is her passion and Tawny said she is honored to have the opportunity at Trinity UMC! We are so blessed to have her leading the music ministries of our church!!
Doug was born to Ida and Jim Meli, lifelong practicing Catholics and a nurse and family doctor respectively. Jim joined the army after graduating medical school, which sent the family on worldwide travel for Doug’s early years. The Meli family lived in several countries in Europe, Northern California, North Carolina and South Carolina, finally settling in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1985. It was here in middle school where Doug found his love of the saxophone and music, and he became heavily involved in both school and extra-curricular musical programs and performances.
After high school, Doug studied at Loyola Marymount University and UNLV, receiving his bachelors in business administration. He began working for a worldwide “virtual reality” company in 1994 that was on the cutting edge of digital gaming using this new networking technology – the internet. These early roots in technology would continue with Doug throughout his professional career. Doug also continued to pursue his love of music, both teaching high school and middle school music and performing both in original acts as well as with professional groups in the resorts on Las Vegas Boulevard.
In 2004, Doug met Teresa Stewart, a musician, classically trained as a pianist, vocalist, flutist, and conductor. She also happens to be pretty easy on his eyes :). Doug was immediately smitten with her wonderful spirit and personality. They began dating in 2005 and were married on March 7, 2009.
Teresa and Doug each ran their own thriving businesses in Las Vegas for several years, and Teresa completed her Doctoral Degree. Then in 2013 they are blessed with the arrival of their daughter, Corinne. Wanting to raise Corinne in a different environment, they initially moved to Portland, Oregon where they lived for 3 years, before moving to Denton in 2016.
Currently, Doug works as the COO of a software development company and Teresa owns a piano and vocal studio which she runs from their home. Corinne attends Denton Calvary Academy. The family’s faith and continual drive and desire to serve the Lord remains at the forefront of their daily lives. They are so grateful to have found such a wonderful community at Trinity UMC Denton, and look forward to worshipping here for years to come.
Kat Holliday
Nursery Assistant
Kat is from Flower Mound, Texas, and has lived in Denton for the past six years. She is attending NTCT majoring in Health Science.
She loves working with children and has been an employee of the Trinity Learning Center as a toddler teacher since November 2021.
Some of Kat’s hobbies include playing tennis, playing with her cat, and spending time with fiancé, friends and family. Her favorite color is pink. She loves coffee and Thai & Mexican foods. Kat’s favorite places to shop are H&M and Target.
Her goals for the future are to keep working with children while continuing her education and living a happy and fulfilling life!
Nancy has worked at TLC since 2009 in various positions and the most recent as the Director. She has a degree from a school in New York, and before working at TLC, she owned her own licensed in-home childcare business in California where she discovered her passion for working with preschoolers.
She is married to her college sweetheart Coby, and they have three wonderful children and two dogs who keep them on their toes! Their oldest, Scott graduated from Texas Tech and is now living in Austin, Ryan graduated in May from UT Arlington, and Madison is a sophomore at Guyer High School.
Nancy loves her job at TLC because she feels that through our preschool, we are laying the foundation of every child’s learning experience. She loves watching the kids discover new concepts and watching them grow up as they go through the program.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, watching her daughter play sports and volunteering.
