Nashville, October 2020 – Marking over thirty-five years of stellar service with The United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH), Tammy Gaines will retire on December 31, 2020.
Named Chief Financial Officer in August 2014, Ms. Gaines has held leadership positions that touched every aspect of the UMPH operation, starting in May 1985 as the internal auditor and advancing steadily to assume ever greater responsibilities. She held numerous positions that included heading up the Abingdon Press division, overseeing Cokesbury direct sales, and directing all business operations.
Concurrent with serving as a senior leader of UMPH, Ms. Gaines has held key volunteer leadership positions at First United Methodist Church in Franklin, TN and with the Tennessee Annual Conference. Her professional involvements include membership on the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and previously serving as its treasurer.
Ms. Gaines played instrumental roles as UMPH adapted to dramatic changes in the church and in the religious publishing industry, urging the embrace of new technologies; incorporating state of the art business practices; assuring compliance with evolving accounting requirements; driving innovations in how UMPH interacts with and serves customers; helping to guide planning for the move from UMPH’s headquarters of over fifty years to new offices; and most recently developing processes and solutions as hundreds of staff transitioned to working remotely.
“Through rapid and sweeping cultural and business changes over more than three decades,
Tammy has been a model leader, acting with integrity, foresight, imagination, utmost professionalism, and compassion. Her influence and contributions have been priceless,” said Brian K. Milford, President & Publisher.
Tammy Gaines’ strong commitments to the mission of The United Methodist Church, her passion for excellence in customer service, and the high standards of professionalism she has exhibited have inspired and set the pace for scores of staff members over her long and storied career.
Ms. Gaines and her husband Mike plan to continue to reside in the Nashville area.
