WHO: Max Vincent

THE CHURCH: Allen Memorial United Methodist Church in Oxford

BIRTHPLACE: Frankfurt, Germany; HOMETOWN: Augusta/Thompson

EDUCATION: Two master's degrees in divinity and theology from Duke Divinity College

HOBBIES: Golf; reading (favorite book-"A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens); cooking ("My best dish is a spiced smoked turkey breast made on the grill").

DEFINING VERSE: "For those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall line up with wings like eagles." - Isaiah 40:31
"The verse teaches me to wait. I can be very impatient. I want things to happen right away. It reminds me my real strength comes from God. It keeps me humble."

PREACHING STYLE: "I try to be conversational ... I don't always stand behind the pulpit. I try to use a lot of humor in my preaching to make people more comfortable. It's not for the sake of telling a joke, but I make it related to the sermon ... I try to be very conscious of time. Most people today are programmed with attention spans that run between 12 to 15 minutes. So some people have remarked that my sermons seem shorter than most. I try to pack something meaningful in those short minutes. Sometimes my sermons may seem incomplete, but that's to get people to think and reflect on what was said."