Leigh Bonner

Pastor

Leigh was born, raised, and educated in Memphis, TN, where she graduated from Rhodes College with a B.A. in French and International Studies and a minor in Music. After college, Leigh spent a year as a PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer in Ghana, training in a small village, living with a Ghanaian family, and working at an ecumenical school in Accra. 

Upon her return to Memphis, Leigh worked in a preschool, directed an after-school youth enrichment program in an underserved area, and for several years coordinated the local alum program for a national organization focused on empowering high school students to study history for the purpose of standing against bigotry and hate. In 2009, she began the Masters of Divinity program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. There, she met her spouse, Adam Graham, also from Tennessee. 

Leigh was ordained in 2013 to a validated (non-parish) ministry with a small Presbyterian nonprofit focused on serving refugees after their reception and placement period. She worked with refugees from more than 10 countries to upgrade their employment, get further education and vocational training, learn vocationally focused English, and establish a generationally sustainable life as a new American. 

As Chaplain, she worked with refugee congregations to assist pastors with navigating hospital visits, social services, and cross-cultural communication. She also spent those years supplying preaching for PC(USA) congregations throughout the Presbytery of Middle TN and educated congregations about the U.S. refugee resettlement system. 

After five years in that ministry, she left for a Temporary Stated Supply position at a small but revitalizing congregation in Nashville while serving as Vice Chair of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry. Leigh then accepted a new call as Director of Global Mission for a large church in Atlanta, GA, and moved there in 2018. 

For four years, she led congregation members involved in church-to-church partnerships in five countries outside the U.S. and with four local organizations focused on welcoming international people to Atlanta. During that time, she had the opportunity to visit and befriend Presbyterian congregations in Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, and Lebanon. 

Leigh then served as Interim Associate Pastor for a large congregation in Athens, GA, from 2022 to 2024. In May 2024, she completed her Graduate Certificate in Missional Leadership from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, a program that allowed her to return to Ghana with Adam.

Leigh and Adam live in Decatur, GA. Together, they enjoy their bonded brother and sister cats, Henrietta Ruby and Henry, cooking, hiking, traveling (especially to the National Parks), and tending to the native habitat they established in their backyard. Leigh speaks fluent French and elementary Asante Twi and enjoys painting, scrapbooking, birding, photography, playing the flute and ukulele, and playing with her two nieces.

Leslie Goldsmith

Pianist

Leslie’s music training began at age 4, culminating with studies at The Juilliard and Oberlin Conservatories. Her father was an amazing pianist, and some of her best memories are of playing music with him. She is grateful for the opportunities she has had to master these skills and share music with others. To her, sacred music creates beautiful melodies and harmonies that generate brain waves conducive to prayer, meditation, centering oneself, looking inward, and feeling peace.

When she’s not playing piano, she and her husband, Bruce, own Visual Odyssey, a company that creates educational products that teach about chiropractic, other healing modalities, and the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In her spare time, she is an actress with CAST, an interactive, comedy, whodunnit dinner theater company that raises funds for local charities. They have two grown sons and beautiful daughters-in-law and live in the quiet of the woods.