Misti Dawn McCreary

Pastor Misti is currently serving at St Mark UMC in Knoxville, TN as lead pastor since July 2026 and is a retired Chaplain Major from the Tennessee Army National Guard.

She graduated from Maryville College in 2003 with a major in chemistry and minors in math, physics, and biology and worked in Oak Ridge, TN as a chemist until called to ministry. Joining the Kentucky Army National Guard in 2009 as a Chaplain Candidate, Pastor Misti attended Asbury Theological Seminary, graduating in 2013 with a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling. She transferred to the Tennessee Army National Guard in 2014 and was assessed as a Chaplain while taking her first appointment as a pastor at Englewood UMC in Englewood, TN and Pleasant Grove UMC in Etowah, TN. Her next appointment was at First Broad Street UMC in Kingsport, TN where she served as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship for eight years. In 2024, she was appointed to St Paul UMC in Wytheville, VA as lead pastor and graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry program in May 2026 with an emphasis on Ministry in Turbulent Times.

At seminary, Pastor Misti met her husband, Chris McCreary, who received his Master of Arts in Biblical Studies and serves as Director of Contemporary Worship at Ebenezer UMC in Knoxville. They married in 2012, and together they have Zoe (daughter), Beerus (cat), and Aang (cat).