At Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, the congregation is getting to know its new pastor, Diane Everette, and she is getting to know her new community.

Everette was on hand at Mt. Zion, located on Straughn School Road, for her first official Sunday on July 6, and said she has already fallen in love with both the people and the area.

“I have a great congregation,” Everette said. “And it already feels like home. Being the new person in town, it’s a very warm, friendly place. The people make you feel right at home.”
And the truth of the matter is, Everette says, her new home in Covington County is very similar to where she was reared in Monroe County, as well as Escambia County, where she has spent the last 19 years of her life.

Everette is a native of Uriah and a graduate of J.U. Blacksher High School. She is also a graduate of Huntingdon College in Montgomery. She spent the last 19 years in Atmore, where she served 11 years as minister of programs for First United Methodist church and another eight years as pastor of both Bethel United Methodist Church and McRae Street United Methodist Church. And while Everette said leaving her congregations was hard, she added she is also excited about God’s plan for her in her new post.

“I’ve really been able to get out and visit and I just really like it here,” she said. “We have a revival starting next week and Kim Bolton will be performing. There’s a lot to do.”

And Everette will also be staying busy improving her own theological base, as she is on schedule to graduate in May from Asbury Theological Seminary with a Master’s of Divinity degree.

In the mean time, Everette says she would like to encourage anyone and everyone to visit Mt. Zion Sunday mornings, where Sunday school begins at 10 and worship begins at 11.

Everette and her husband of 30 years, Earl, have two adult children, John Everette and Leigh Ann Parker.