Hear About Pastor Rex Kaney

Rex Kaney grew up in Macon, Georgia. He first attended Young Harris College in North Georgia and then received his BA from Birmingham Southern College in  Alabama. His Master of Divinity degree was awarded by the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 1972.  About a decade later he returned to Emory and earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from in 1988, focusing on faith as a journey toward personal and social transformation.

He began his faith journey in the Church of the Nazarene, one of many churches that grew out of the Wesleyan movement.  In his teenage years, he joined the United Methodist Church, and experienced a call to ministry just before entering college.  He served Methodist Churches in Dublin and Marietta, and came to Druid Hills UMC in 1999 after serving 12 years as pastor of Trinity United Methodist in Atlanta.  For most of his ministry he has served in churches and ministries in urban areas, having a great fondness for the city.

Rex was married to his wife Ginger for 35 years -  until her death in 2006. Rex and Ginger’s three children have graduated from college and are pursuing their own careers.  He enjoys cooking “a little” and loves to play golf.  ”Golf  is one of those things I love to play, along with snow skiing and watching baseball and football.”

“Druid Hills UMC has been a wonderful place to serve because of its commitment to serve Christ through local and world mission, its inclusiveness and hospitality, its passion for faith and justice, and its loving and caring spirit.”

“In recent years two aspects of faith have become important to me.  One is gaining a greater appreciation for the Methodist movement and its founders John and Charles Wesley. Their emphasis on grace and practical faith continue to let me know I am theologically at home in the United Methodist Church. I have had the opportunity to study them closely and to teach the history and theology of the movement to local pastors and seminary students. At the same time, I have learned much from participating in the Faith Alliance of Metropolitan Atlanta, learning from those who walk a different faith journey than mine. “