Hollys switching roles

Canterbury United Methodist Church is getting one Holly as the other moves on.

Mike Holly has served at Canterbury for more than six years and as its contemporary worship pastor for more than two. He announced in April that he would be leaving the church to accept a role as head pastor for Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover starting June 12.

The position opened up after The Rev. Reid Crotty announced he would be retiring from Bluff Park after serving 22 years as the church’s head pastor.

Holly said the best parts about his time at Canterbury were the relationships he made.

“A friend once told me that if I ever got the chance to work at Canterbury to take the job,” he said. “He told me Canterbury had the best resources you could find in a church. It wasn’t until I started working there that I realized by ‘resources,’ he meant the wonderful people on staff and in the congregation at Canterbury.”

He noted that Crotty left him some big shoes to fill since not many pastors get the chance to stay with one congregation for 22 years. He plans on learning from his wife, Julie, who has served as head pastor at Discovery United Methodist Church for five years.

As Mike leaves Canterbury to serve at Bluff Park, Julie will take his place at Canterbury in June. Julie said the transition will be easy since she is already familiar with the Canterbury congregation through her husband.

As the two pastors switch roles in their careers, Julie said she is familiar with the responsibility her husband is about to undertake.

“There have been multiple times that I needed Mike for support and advice when faced with big decisions in the church,” she said. “I know Mike is going to succeed in any role that he takes, and now I’m looking forward to being there for him when he needs me to lean on.”

The Hollys have two children, Lena and Davis, which makes for a unique situation with their family having two pastors at different churches.

Julie said there are many times when their services coincide, but it was an easy adjustment and made the family stronger since working in the same career field helps the two collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other.

Both Hollys have helped their churches grow and meet financial goals. Mike said they both have been given wonderful opportunities, and he thinks the transition for both of them will lead to something exciting and unexpected.