Chapter Officers
Jim Adams
Dean
Jim Adams is a public school music teacher by training and church musician by avocation. He received music education degrees from Virginia Commonwealth, Florida State, and Georgia Southern Universities, with piano as his major instrument. Jim began playing organ as many church musicians do, by necessity. His organ training has solely been through AGO and Presbyterian music conferences -- and the guidance of helpful colleagues. After teaching elementary general music for 40 years, Jim retired in 2020. His church positions in south Georgia have been at Flemington Presbyterian, First Presbyterian Savannah, and since 2014, White Bluff Presbyterian. When not practicing or planning worship, Jim enjoys travel, yard work, and reading.
Kathleen Turner is Director of Music Ministries at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island. She is a native of upstate New York and earned a double Bachelor of Arts degree in organ and oboe from the Eastman School of Music. She also holds a Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College. Kathleen won the MTNA Wurlitzer Collegiate National Organ Competition and has had a thirty-five-year career in sacred music serving the Episcopal Church. She was also the Managing Music Director of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2018. She has an active performing and conducting career and is a published composer.
Kathleen Turner
Sub-Dean
Justin L. Addington has recently returned to Savannah and accepted the call to serve as Minister of Music and Organist at First Baptist Church. During Justin‘s previous eight-year stint in Savannah, he served as the Director of Music and Worship at Skidaway Island United Methodist Church. He also served a two-year term as dean of our chapter from 2012-2014. During his time away from Savannah, Justin worked to complete a Doctorate of Theology in worship and liturgy. He returns to Savannah with his partner, Evan Goetz, who is the Executive Director of the Tybee Post Theater.
Justin Addington
Secretary
Jacob Fuhrman is Organist and Director of Music at the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, Georgia, and a part-time faculty member at Georgia Southern University. He holds degrees in organ performance from Wheaton College, IL (2012) and the Eastman School of Music (MM, 2014; DMA, 2019). While in graduate school, he was the treasurer for the Rochester, NY chapter of the AGO and a national conference coordinator for the Organ Historical Society. His research focuses on organ accompaniment to Dutch- and English-language metrical psalmody between the Reformation and the late eighteenth century.
Jacob Fuhrman
Treasurer
Suade Anderson is currently the interim Music Director at All Saints Episcopal Church in Hilton Head and has served in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina since 2012. In his full-time career, he is the Men’s Tailored Specialist at Dillard’s and has been in the men’s suit business for over a decade. He graduated with his B.M. in Voice from Coastal Carolina University.
Suade Anderson
Member at Large
An Alabama native, Julia Tucker holds a degree in Piano Performance from Auburn University and Masters of Piano Performance and Masters of Organ Performance from Syracuse University where she studied with Dr. Annie Laver. Julia keeps a very active performing schedule as an organist, collaborative pianist, and choral singer. She was a faculty member at the 2018 Pipe Organ Encounter in Phoenix, Arizona. Julia has been serving as a church musician since she was an early teenager, and has been active as a professional organist for over a decade. Julia is a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University, where she studied with Dr. Kimberly Marshall. She is Assistant Director of Enrollment at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Julia Tucker
Member at Large
Thomas J. White was appointed Cantor of Lutheran Church of the Ascension in August 2019. He has served ELCA Lutheran congregations for the past 30 years, most recently in Lexington, KY. He began playing the organ for Mass at age 12 for his family's home church and also has an extensive background in musical theater, having conducted his high school musicals starting as a sophomore. He went on to earn degrees from Oberlin College in composition and conducting. In Savannah, he is the founding director of "Bach Ascending," a new concert series that launched right before the pandemic.
Tom White
Member at Large
Rev. John Ruehl is Transitional Pastor at White Bluff Presbyterian Church. John is married to the Rev. Chrissy Ruehl, a UMC Deacon, and they have two young children. John received his MDiv from Columbia Theological Seminary, He is pursuing a DMin through Drew University (Madison NJ) focussing on Courageous Leadership. John was born in Islip, NY and was raised by his mom in DeLand FL with his three sisters. He enjoys hiking, boating, camping and being outside and is a lifelong fan of baseball, specifically the New York Mets.
Rev. John Ruehl
Chaplain
Rebecca McClain
Past Dean
Rebecca McClain is Organist at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Savannah. A native of Savannah, she retired as Chief Financial Officer of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in 2015. She currently maintains a private piano studio. Rebecca received a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Wesleyan College, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Wesleyan, and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia Southern University. She recently completed a Certificate in Injury-Preventive Keyboard Technique at Salem College, and is currently enrolled in the M.A. Music program at Wesleyan, with a concentration in organ. Rebecca recently completed five years as dean of the Savannah AGO Chapter.