MidSouth District Church of the Nazarene Leadership
The MidSouth District is blessed to have a leadership team who are truly dedicated to Christ and accomplishing His will. Following are brief bio's of our leadership team.
Dr. Dwight M. Gunter II
District Superintendent
Dr. Dwight Gunter served as pastor of Nashville Trevecca Community Church from April 2002 until his election as the MidSouth District Superintendent in 2018. He previously served as pastor of Richardson Church of the Nazarene in Richardson, TX, Midland Valley First Church of the Nazarene in Aiken, SC, and Spartanburg (SC) First Church of the Nazarene. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Trevecca Nazarene University and served as President of the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene, Inc. for 2017-2018.
Dr. Gunter has written for various publications and authored Deliverance From Daily Giants (2006), Seven Letters for Seven Churches (2011) and co-authored Best Practices for Effective Boards (2012).
Dwight and his wife Karan have two children – Lindsay (Jamin) Wentworth and Trae Gunter, and three grandsons, Benjamin, Carter, and Rivers.
Dr. Gunter earned the Bachelor of Arts degree from Trevecca Nazarene University (1982), the Masters of Religious Education degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary (1984), and the Doctor of Ministry degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary (2000).
Jeff Sexton
Assistant District Superintendent
Rev. Jeff Sexton graduated from Southern Nazarene University with a baccalaureate in music. Upon graduation he served in Admissions and Enrollment Management at SNU until 1990.
Jeff has served on pastoral staff at Portland First in Portland, OR (1990-1994) as Youth Pastor and Executive Pastor and at Nashville First (1994-2011) as Executive Pastor, Worship Ministries, and Senior Associate Pastor.
He and his wife Michele have two children, Nicole and Trent.
Rev. Sexton may be reached at jsexton@midsouthnaz.org
Eduardo Lelli
Hispanic Coordinator
In 2016 Rev. Eduardo Lelli joined the MidSouth District Ministry Resource Center as Hispanic Ministries Coordinator having served over a decade as a MidSouth District pastor. Eduardo has been a Licensed Addiction Counselor. He is the founder and Clinical Director of Puertas Abiertas (Open Doors), a compassionate community center dedicated to helping some of the neediest Hispanic clients in Nashville. He has obtained the Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) credential from the National Association of Addiction Counselors (NAADAC). Prior to founding Puertas Abiertas, Eduardo was the Director of Chemical Dependency at the Cedar Springs Psychiatric Hospital in Colorado Springs, CO.
He resides in Nashville with his wife Graciela and their four children. Eduardo can regularly be heard on Spanish Radio in Nashville as expert on matters of emotional and spiritual concern.
Rev. Lelli may be reached at elelli@midsouthnaz.org
Tina Diehl
Administrative Assistant
Tina is a graduate of Southern Nazarene University and joined the district office team January of 2016. Tina and her husband, David, have two children, Joy and Gloria.
Tina can be reached at tdiehl@midsouthnaz.org.
Sherri Simmons
Administrative Assistant
Sherri joined the district ministry team in 2009. Sherri has three children – Bobby (Christina), Matthew, and Nikki. She has four granddaughters Chloe, Claire, Lylah and Adalyn.
Sherri can be reached at sherri@midsouthnaz.org.
Becky McLaurine
Bookkeeper
Becky graduated from Tennessee Tech University with an accounting degree and has worked part time with the district office since the fall of 2012. Becky and her husband, Bob, have two children, Austin and Olivia (Drew).
Becky can be reached at becky@midsouthnaz.org.
