| Pastor Holly Bandel, Senior Pastor |
Holly grew up at First United Methodist Plano and graduated from Wylie High School in 1993. She attended the University of North Texas in Denton where she heard the call to ministry as a college student and received her Bachelor's of Social Work in 1997. Holly traveled to study at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina and received her Master's of Divinity degree in 2000. After graduation, she served as pastor at Anna United Methodist Church in Anna, Texas. In 2003, Holly was ordained as an elder in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church and began serving at First United Methodist Church of Plano. She now serves as Executive Associate Pastor. She is married to Phil Bandel, a media engineer, and they have a son. In her free time, Holly enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, watching movies and, of course, watching Duke Basketball.