Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, Lead Pastor
Rev. Lane Cotton Winn became lead pastor at St. John’s in July 2017. Previously she served as the senior pastor at Pearl River United Methodist Church (Pearl River, LA), associate pastor at Aldersgate UMC (Slidell, LA) and associate pastor at First UMC of Amite, LA. Lane earned her bachelor’s degree in communications, with a concentration in photojournalism, from Loyola University in New Orleans. Upon graduating, Lane moved to New York, where she was the staff photographer and audiovisual archivist for the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of The United Methodist Church. She earned her master of divinity from Emory University and is an ordained elder.
Lane’s husband, Ben Hartman, teaches 5th grade at the LSU Lab School, and together they have an 8-year-old daughter, Julian, and a four-legged “goldendoodle,” Hagrid. Both Julian and Hagrid are kind-hearted and quite precocious. Lane and Ben share a passion for travel, an appetite for delicious foods, an ear for good music, and enjoy the company of family and friends.
Dr. Terry Byars, Accompanist
Terry holds a B.S. in English Education from LSU and a Ph.D. in Theatre Arts also from LSU. He is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre at River Parishes Community College. He has been the St. John’s organist since 2001.
Lynn Cooper, Administrative Assistant
Lynn, a long-time member of St. John’s, joined the church staff in August 2014 after working 25 years in the non-profit field. She has two grown sons, Paul and Jody, two daughters-in-law, Natalie and Kimberly, and four grandchildren, Kellen, Madeline, Elizabeth and Ivy.
LeAnn Davis, Manager of Finance and Facilities
LeAnn joined St. John’s staff in December 2017.
Ben Balser, Media Producer
Ben was born and raised in New Orleans, spending holidays at his grandfathers farm in Magnolia, MS, giving him exposure to both city and country life. He has been doing media production for more than 20 years. A commercial drone pilot, Apple certified Master Trainer, and formerly VP of production for a TV station and online streaming service, Ben has served in a variety of positions in the media industry. He joined our staff in September 2021.
Bill Putzig, Custodian
Bill has been attending St. John’s for more than 12 years. He maintains our facilities and grounds and helps manage set up for all of our St. John’s worship services and events since 2017. He was born and raised in Florida and moved to Baton Rouge in 1997. Bill loves to hike and has two cats!