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An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Milan often jokes that he first moved to Nashville in 1999 because he “heard they were running out of guitar players,” but with a wry southern wit and his trusty tenor voice, he has built a reputation as an adept artist, songwriter and collaborator. Traveling the world, Milan has made appearances at venues ranging from Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California, and from the Grand Ole Opry to Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
In addition to his standout solo recordings, Milan’s songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in bluegrass, including Balsam Range, Lonesome River Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, Terry Baucom, Tim O’Brien, Buddy Melton, Sam Bush, Missy Armstrong, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Unspoken Tradition, the Grascals and many others. Along the way he has scored forty number one songs in the genre, over four dozen others that have graced the top twenty, two nominations for Song of the Year and was named the Songwriter of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2020.
Looking back, it seems hard to believe that Buddy Melton wasn’t bitten by the music bug until he had moved away to college. Although initially intrigued by the sound of the banjo, it was ultimately the fiddle that had been on the wall in his childhood home for years that ended up in his dorm room at Western Carolina University.
As his interest grew, weekly get-togethers with local musicians offered a relaxed atmosphere and an opportunity to dive into standards from the bluegrass songbook. After weeks of contemplation and a bit of hand wringing, Buddy worked up the nerve to sing the Bill Monroe classic Blue Moon of Kentucky. In that moment, the friends and neighbors present at the jam session were introduced to what bluegrass great Tony Rice once described as “one of the most exciting and purest voices I have ever heard.”
As a guiding force and founding member of the bluegrass power-house Balsam Range, Buddy has been the voice behind multiple #1 songs and has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the country, including the Grand Ole Opry, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Merlefest. The group has received countless awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), including multiple trophies for Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. On an individual level, Buddy was named as the Male Vocalist of the Year by the IBMA in 2014 and 2018.
One of the most prevalent aspects of Buddy’s musical artistry is his love of collaboration. His recording credits cover a long list of bluegrass icons, including Sam Bush, Terry Baucom, Tony Rice, Adam Steffey, Jerry Douglas, Sammy Shelor, and John Cowan, as well as folks on the fringe of the bluegrass genre such as Chloe Agnew of Celtic Woman fame, the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, Americana renaissance man Jim Lauderdale, and the legendary Doc Watson. Over the past several years, Buddy has also released a steady stream of duo recordings with old friend Milan Miller, yielding the popular songs Adeline, Who Are You Redbird, Will I Want To, and The Last Moonshiner.
Rev. Ashley Crowder Stanley is an ordained elder in the WNCC and currently serves as pastor at Wellspring Congregation: An Inclusive UMC in Asheville, NC. A graduate of Duke University and Duke Divinity School, she is a devoted fan and alumni of the “dark blue school.” Ordained in the Minnesota Annual Conference, Ashley began her ministry at Golden Valley UMC in a suburb of Minneapolis. Additionally, she was a hospital chaplain at Duke Hospital, at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Abbot-Northwestern Hospital, completing two and a half years of CPE. When she returned to the WNCC, she became an adjunct faculty member at Duke Divinity School where she taught for 8 years in the field of Pastoral Care and Counseling. She has served other wonderful churches in the WNCC including Biltmore, Wesley Memorial in High Point, and Mills River. She was also the founding pastor of Wellspring Congregation in Asheville. She has also been a District Superintendent.
Throughout her ministry, Ashley has served our conference and the wider denomination through service as Chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry, as member of several restructuring Task Forces, as a 4-time delegate to General Conference, as a 12-year member of the Duke University Board of Trustees, as a RIOM leader, as the President of the Duke Divinity School National Alumni Association and a member of its Board of Visitors.
Ashley’s ministry passions are preaching and worship, community building and social justice work and making “good trouble.” As co-founder of Asheville’s Room in the Inn ministry for unhoused women, Ashley gives thanks for the many ongoing opportunities for ministry that living in the world offers.
She loves music, reading, playing the piano, writing prose, observing the wonder of children and being in community. Ashley and her husband, T.’s family includes their 3 adult children, their spouses, 6 grandchildren and a dog named Cooper. Her life has been immeasurably blessed by growing up in a pastor’s family, and spending childhood summers at Lake Junaluska in her family’s home on Kilgore Road.
Michael is currently the Director of the Fresh Expressions House of Studies at United Theological Seminary. Director of Fresh Expressions Florida, and Director of Fresh Expressions for The United Methodist Church. He serves as the co-pastor of Compassion UMC and St. Marks UMC in Ocala, Florida, with his wife Jill, where they direct addiction recovery programs, a jail ministry, a food pantry, an interracial unity movement, and house a faith-based inpatient treatment center. Wildwood and St Marks are traditional congregations and a network of thirteen fresh expressions that gather in tattoo parlors, dog parks, salons, running tracks, community centers, burrito joints, and digital spaces.
Michael guides leaders in an individual, regional, statewide, and national capacity. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at several educational institutions. He coaches entrepreneurs across the theological spectrum and has consulted with hundreds of churches, districts, denominations, networks, and dioceses. As an active ministry practitioner, he has started and developed businesses and planted missional communities most of his life. Michael has done this for over a decade while pastoring in the local church. His coaching and consulting work are not theoretical only, but experiential. He believes in maintaining a practitioner’s ethos: “I eat my own cooking and share experimental recipes.”
Beck earned a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in Semiotics and Future Studies at Portland Seminary. He’s the author of ten books, including Deep Roots, Wild Branches: Revitalizing the Church in the Blended Ecology; Deep & Wild: Remissioning Your Church from the Outside In, A Field Guide to Methodist Fresh Expressions; and co-author of Contextual Intelligence: Unlocking the Ancient Secret to Mission on the Front Lines with Leonard Sweet, Fresh Expressions in a Digital Age: How the Church Can Prepare for a Post-Pandemic World with Rosario Picardo, as well as The 21st Century Christian: Following Jesus Where Life Happens with Michael Moynagh. His most recent books include Painting With Ashes, Fresh Expressions of the Rural Church, and The Five Congregational Personality Types: An Ancient Pathway to Congregational Renewal in the 21st Century.
Thank you to The Foundation for Evangelism for sponsoring the Rev. Dr. Michael Adam Beck as a Theologian in Residence.
From the Foundation: The Foundation for Evangelism is a Wesleyan-tradition grantmaking organization chartered in 1949 to “diffuse the blessing of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Today, we carry out that vision by providing grants as the catalyst to equip disciples to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our approach empowers teams of pastors and laity working together to spark a movement inviting all people to join the Christian journey. To do this, we focus our grantmaking on three specific areas: Raising Up Gospel Leaders, Engaging the Ministry of the Laity and Equipping the Local Church. To learn more visit www.FoundationforEvangelism.
Ginger Wyrick, conductor, author, clinician, lecturer, teacher, and performer, serves on the music faculty at UNC Charlotte. Ms. Wyrick is a life-long musician, established professionally in piano, flute, organ, harpsichord, and voice. The author of 16 books and numerous periodicals on music and curriculum development, Ms. Wyrick frequently leads workshops and lectures on music education; serves as an adjudicator for piano, voice, harp, and choral/band/orchestra; and appears as guest conductor for honor choirs and festivals. Performance engagements include events in 17 states, the District of Columbia, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Nigeria. Ms. Wyrick leads training events for all ages and has appeared at national symposiums presenting her research on the changing role of music in the United States and the local church. She is active in the local church as a liturgical arts consultant, choir director, and organist. Ms. Wyrick regularly appears as the invited guest conductor at the Charlotte Music Club’s annual performance of Messiah with community chorus and orchestra. She is former chorus master and a performer with Augusta Opera. Ms. Wyrick holds leadership positions in several professional organizations and is the former president of the North Carolina American Choral Directors Association. Ms. Wyrick earned music degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Southern Methodist University. Honors include membership in Pi Kappa Lambda and Mu Phi Epsilon. Ms. Wyrick is the recipient of the Lara Hoggard Award for distinguished service in choral music.
In 1956, The U.S. Army Chorus was established as the vocal counterpart of TheUnited States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” From its inception, The U.S. Army Chorus has established and maintained a reputation of musical excellence. Beyond the traditional military music and patriotic standards, the repertoire of the Army Chorus covers a broad spectrum which includes pop, Broadway, folk, and classical music. The Army Chorus performs frequently at the White House, theVice President’s Residence, the U.S. Capitol and the State Department. In 2007, the group was featured at the State Dinner held in honor of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2008 at the State Arrival Ceremony for Pope Benedict XVI held on the south lawn of the White House. When in Washington, DC, foreign dignitaries and military counterparts visiting our nation’s senior leadership are greeted by songs performed in their native tongues, as the Army Chorus has performed in more than 40 languages and dialects. The Army Chorus was personally requested to perform for the private interment services of former President Ronald Wilson Reagan in 2004, and President Gerald R. and Mrs. Betty Ford in early 2007 and 2011, respectively. In late 2018, the Chorus was honored to help the Bush family lay to rest its patriarch and our 41st President, George H.W. Bush in a private interment ceremony in Texas. In 2021, the ensemble celebrated 65 years of service to the U.S. Army, its senior leaders, and the American people.
Bass, K.C. Armstrong has sung on national and international concert stages as a former member of The U.S. Army Chorus and former member of The U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants. He just recently retired from The U.S. Army with over 20 years of collective service. As a member of these ensembles, he had the opportunity to sing for the last four presidents and for the funerals of Presidents Reagan, Ford and Bush. A featured soloist on choir tours throughout the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Netherlands and Romania, he is also a highly sought-after soloist for choral works/oratorios. He worked with teachers Dr. Robert Holquist, Dr. Noelle Woods and Dr. Thomas Jenrette during his studies at Western Carolina University and East Tennessee State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance. While in college, K.C. was a Junaluska Singer the summers of ’96, ’97, and ’98! He is currently a freelance musician and sings with professional groups such as Poet Voices, King’s Cadence, Brethren, Voci Virili and many other vocal ensembles. Originally from Mt. Holly, North Carolina, K.C. resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife, Chara, daughter Adaline, and sons Brogan and Calvin.
The Lake Junaluska landscaping team uses blooms from across the grounds when they create beautiful floral arrangements and bouquets for Lake Junaluska events. Learn more at Lake Junaluska Florals.