shadow shadow

The Garden Staff


Lead Pastor: Dr. Linda McCoy

Dr. McCoy is a founding member of The Garden and has been a member of the pastoral staff at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church since 1982. Beginning in September of 1995 she became the pastor of The Garden.

Dr. McCoy began her professional career as a secondary school French teacher, and entered ministry as a second career.  Her ministry actually began as a very active lay person, creating a new caring project for her home church, and that volunteer activity led her to enter seminary and pursue ordination.  Linda holds bachelor and master’s degrees from Indiana University, a Master of Divinity (Magna Cum Laude) from Christian Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.  She received a Harry Denman Award for Evangelism from the South Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, and was named a Distinguished Alumni of Christian Theological Seminary. Linda was named one of the “Most Influential Women” in Indianapolis in 2008.

Linda has authored three books:  It’s News to Me; Messages of Hope for Those Who Haven’t Heard—a collection of Advent and Epiphany sermons, Planting a Garden telling the story and organizational details of starting a unique kind of ministry, and Abingdon’s Igniting Worship: Helping and Serving—a collection of ten services around the theme of helping to make the world a better place. She has also written numerous articles, and contributed a chapter on churches starting churches to the recently published 7 Myths of the United Methodist Church.

Linda and her husband, Mike, live in Carmel, Indiana. They enjoy spending time with their daughter, Erin, son-in-law, Tim and their granddaughter, Maddie.

Oak Hill Pastor: Rev. Stan Abell

For ten years, Stan was a high school history teacher before deciding to dedicate his life to ministry work.  He has been associated as a volunteer and then subsequently on staff at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church since 2001.Stan’s primary involvement at St. Luke’s has been as the pastor of St. Luke’s non-traditional worship, The Garden at Oak Hill, where he has helped build a congregation of over 200 people.  He is also Executive Director of The Power of One, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that has raised over $250,000 for AIDS research and the Neema Orphanage for children infected with HIV/AIDS in Eldoret, Kenya. In 2004 through the Power of One and in conjunction with the Indiana School of Medicine’s IU/Kenya Partnership, Stan led an 11-member film crew to Kenya to produce the documentary Into the Heart of Hope, which won a regional Emmy award in 2005. Most recently, Stan has led a task force to create The Garden and St. Luke’s new virtual faith community, The Bluevine Collective. The Bluevine Collective is a diverse community seeking to engage in significant life and faith questions in order to foster transformative action Concurrently, Stan is helping to create a new service, Garden Unplugged, at The Garden at Oak Hill. This new service will be high tech and hi touch. Using creative elements gleaned from The Bluevine Collective, Unplugged will be a more intimate service blending technology and personal conversation.

Director of Worship: Beth Fried 

Beth has been a singer, dancer, and actress since her first solo in the 4th grade. She stumbled upon The Garden in 1996, and immediately joined The Good Earth Band as a lead vocalist. Beth has a Bachelors of Science in Radio/TV Journalism and a Master of Public Affairs in Nonprofit Management. She helped start the Power of One, Inc. in 2004; a group that produced an Emmy Award winning documentary about efforts to bring an end to the HIVAIDS crisis in rural Kenya.

Beth enjoys gardening with her husband, Jonathan, and their kids, Nate and Audrey, ages 12 and 10. She also enjoys visiting NYC, where their daughter Averie, age 19, is in college in Brooklyn.

Media Ministry Specialist: Matt Peyton 

Matt is the newest memeber of the Garden staff. He is a graduate of Indiana University with degrees in journalism and English. After working at St. Luke's for a year and a half as the Associate Director of Junior High Youth, Matt joined the Garden to help create and support the virtual church. He has worked in various media positions including writing for The Indiana Daily Student and the Indianapolis Star, starting Moved Media, a company focused on telling the stories of non-profits, and shooting freelance photography.

Oak Hill Band Director: Steve Whipkey 

Steve Whipkey has been at Oak Hill since the very first service. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Florida, and a Master’s of Music Education from Indiana University. He was a member of the Walt Disney All-American College Jazz Band, and has performed with such artists as Maynard Ferguson, Tom Scott, Maynard Ferguson, Hall & Oates, and Natalie Cole. He played trumpet in the Spirit of Atlanta Drum Corps, and has also been a middle and high school band director. In addition to his work at Oak Hill Mr. Whipkey also serves as a professor of music at Marian College.

Good Earth Band Director: Troye Kinnett

Troye started taking piano lessons on the south side of Muncie when he was 8 years old. As a kid, a idolized Steve Wonder, then Eddie Van Halen and Elton John
Since 1996, Troye as performed as a studio musician with various recording artists at Gaither Studios in Alexandria. He has recorded and performed numerous times with gospel recording artist, Sandi Patti. Troye has played keyboards at The Garden, at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Indianapolis, since 1999, and began directing in 2004. Troye started performing with John Mellencamp in the spring of 2006. When not performing with John Mellencamp or at The Garden, Troye also composes music for radio and TV commercials at Earshot Audio-Post in Broad Ripple. One of Troye’s biggest thrills has been meeting and performing with Paul Shaffer (of The Late Show with David Letterman) for the show’s final song (a Dave Clark number) during John Mellencamp’s induction into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” this year. When John Mellencamp is not on tour, Troye has more time to spend at home with his wife, Barb and 8-year old son Sam (who is already showing his love for the drums). “It takes a lot of juggling to make a career out of music,” Troye says.  “But it’s worth it when you love what you do.”

Administrative Team Leader: Judy Tolley

Administrative Team Leader and Assistant to Linda McCoy. In November of 1998 Judy rejoined Linda, to make what they believe is “a pretty good team.” She worked for Linda for 10 ½ years when she was employed at St. Luke’s from 1983–1994, so they share a bit of history together. Judy is a graduate of Butler University and has lived in Indianapolis all her life. 

Garden Kid's Coordinator: Jennifer Andrews

Jennifer worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI) from 2000-2008. She was hired to be the agency’s first staff Event Coordinator. She transitioned to program department in 2005 as a Match Support Specialist. Other professional experience includes coordinating child care for the Garden, working with children with disabilities; sales as an independent consultant with Premier Design; and working as an office assistant with Tucker Real Estate. Jennifer is the mother of two sons, Ryan (11) and Tyler (10). Jennifer loves to watch football, ride bikes with her sons, read, shop, spend time with family and friends, travel, give back to the community and be creative.

levitra pills