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Waples Leadership
The staff and lay leadership here at Waples Memorial UMC is comprised of men and women who love, care and pray for the people of our church and our community. They are constantly working to "do church better," by becoming completely focused on our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. If you have any questions for any of our staff or volunteer leaders, feel free to reach out and email them or call our church office to speak with them. You can contact the church office at waplesinfo@waplesumc.org.
Rev. Justin Miller
Senior Pastor
Justin came to Waples in July of 2020. He was born and raised in and around Fort Smith, Arkansas. He started in ministry in 2002 in Arkansas as a student local pastor while finishing his bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems. Upon graduating, he moved to Sulphur Springs, Texas, where he continued serving as a student local pastor while attending Southern Methodist University—Perkins. He graduated from Perkins in May of 2008 with his Master of Divinity.
In 2009, he was appointed to Floral Heights UMC in Wichita Falls as Associate Pastor/Youth Ministry. In 2013, he was appointed to Trinity United Methodist Church also in Wichita Falls as Senior Pastor. While at Trinity he worked through the ordination process and was ordained as an Elder in 2018.
Justin is married to Katie they have two children, Hannah and Andrew, and 3 additional children they claim as their own, Leonardo, Brett and his wife, Shelby. Justin enjoys collecting Snoopy, watching planes, traveling, mission work, and spending time with family.
Pastor Freddie Orr
Associate Pastor of Care Ministries
Freddie came to Waples in July of 2025. He grew up in this area. He strives to be approachable and relational. In January of 2008, He publicly accepted his call to ministry at St. Stephen. The congregation responded with love and affirmation, many saying, “It’s about time!” and “Why did you wait so long?” Since then, He has been privileged to serve in a variety of pastoral roles throughout the North Texas Conference.
He recently retired from active pastoral leadership so he and his wife could devote time to caring for his mother. Though no longer in a full-time appointment, He remains deeply committed to serving God’s people in any way he can.
He has been blessed to share his life with his wife, Valerie—they celebrated their 50th anniversary this past December. Together, they have three children: Chris (49), James (44), and Jackie (38), along with seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Neil Mowles
Director of Discipleship and Music
Neil came to Waples in February of 2025. He was born and raised in the DFW Metroplex. After graduating from Texas Wesleyan University with a degree in music education, he taught high school choral music and advanced theatre arts for 11 while he was the music director at Polytechnic United Methodist church on the Wesleyan campus.
In 2004, he left the teaching profession (except for maintaining a private voice studio) for a full-time position as the Expressive Arts Director for Unity of Dallas. While at UoD, Neil built a thriving arts ministry and was honored to have had his choir invited to perform at Carnegie Hall under the direction of esteemed composer John Rutter and produced several award-winning theater productions at the church.
In 2014, he and his late wife, Patricia, moved to Pilot Point, TX, to fulfill her dream of running a horse boarding and training barn and he became the Director of Worship and Music Ministry at First United Methodist church of Celina, where they eventually moved in 2018 to operate another horse barn.
Neil shared a love of animals with Patricia and together they fostered over 100 dogs and also rescued, spayed and neutered many feral cats to become barn cats throughout the area. He is a devoted “dog dad” to Sophie, Chewy, Yancy and Jimmy Choo. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and traveling.
Ericka Hinton
Officer Manager
My name is Ericka Hinton. I joined the Waples staff in July of 2019. I have been a Church Administrative Assistant for 15 years. I am a Denison native and I worked in the healthcare field for 25 years for Medicare. I am married to Hal, who is a barber. We have 3 grown children; 2 daughters one son and 2 granddaughters who we adore. Thank you for the warm welcome, Waples family!
Tammie Overturf
Pianist
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Tammie joined Waples Staff in 2017. She has been playing the piano since she was little and loves playing music for others.
Tammie Overturf is also the Executive Director at Denison Helping Hands based in Denison, Texas. Previously, Tammie was an Executive Director at Denison Sister Cities.
Tammie received a Nonprofit Management degree from Brookhaven College and a Nonprofit Leadership from Southern Methodist University.
Tammie also serves as a Board of Directors for the Denison Education Foundation. Her passion is helping others through nonprofits.
Hannah Miller
Media Tech
Hannah became a member of Waples in July of 2020 and joined the staff as the media creator August of 2023. She attends Denison High school and will be graduating in 2026.
She also works for the Yellow Jacket TV with Denison ISD, as a director over Daktronics, doing the graphics for the LED board at games.
Hannah loves to swim and works at the Waterloo Pool for the City of Denison, as head lifeguard. She is also one of coaches for the swim teams and teaches swim lessons. She also is on the Denison High School Swim Team.
Katie Miller
Nursery Director
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Katie came to Waples in July 2020. Katie is an elementary teacher of 18 years. She loves working with children, especially babies, now that her kids are older. She loves singing, reading, and sitting in the floor with the kids.
Katie is married to Rev. Miller, and they have been married for 26 years. They have two children, Hannah and Andrew, and 3 additional children they claim as their own, Leonardo, Brett and his wife, Shelby.