Meet the team.

Jason Lee

Lead Pastor
Jason has been the Lead Pastor at Anthem since 2019.  He love living in Gainesville with his wife of 16 years and their two elementary aged daughters.  When he's not at Disney, he's most likely watching a great movie or Netflix show, having a long conversation over a great cup of coffee or watching football.  Jason is passionate about creating irresistible environments for adults, students, and kids and believes the local church is the hope of the world!
Email Jason

Shannon Leonard

Adult Ministries Director
Shannon has been on staff since 2014.  She's been married for 6 years to Ken Leonard with a 3 month old daughter, Amelia. Shannon was born and raised in Orlando, FL and moved to Gainesville for undergrad. Found Anthem as a college student and the rest is as they say... a great story she’d love to talk about later sometime!
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Jon Birkmire

Next Gen Pastor
Jon has been on staff since 2015. He and his wife Ashley love Gainesville, exploring the outdoors and playing with their 2 dogs. Ashley is a mental health counselor and splits time between Shands Hospital and her private practice. Jon is passionate about partnering with parents and creating irresistible experiences for the next generation. He is an extrovert and loves a good practical joke so don’t take what he says too seriously!
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Daniel Sahmel

Service Programming Director
Daniel is married to Lauren, has two kiddos, and has lived in Gainesville since 2006. He has been at Anthem since 2013, and loves leading amazing teams to create excellent experiences for kids, students and adults. In his spare time, he loves board games, overlanding, working on his Jeep, great puns and short bios.
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Annie Tucker

Children's Ministry Director
Annie has been on staff since 2017 and has been attending Anthem for 6 years. She lives with her husband Kyle, two kids Millie, 2nd grade and Gabe 5th grade. She is a enneagram 2 wing 3. Her loves playing games with friends and checking out new brews with her husband.
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Philip Floor

Student Ministries Director
Philip recently moved from Alpharetta, GA where he worked at North Point Community Church to come be a part of our staff here at Anthem. He has a tremendous passion for helping students discover and develop a faith of their own. When he is not working, you can find him running around all over Gainesville as he is a competitive long-distance runner. Books, coffee, and hanging out with friends are his all time go to’s. He is also a published author of the book “Ready, Fire, Aim: A relentless pursuit to find sustainable joy” and is currently writing a second book. He is very excited to be joining the Anthem family.
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Mike Evans

Guest Services Director
Mike loves going on nature walks and working out with his wife, Hannah. He also loves floating down lazy rivers with friends. Mike enjoys listening to podcasts related to personal development and business and marketing practices. He is also the owner of a private therapy  practice - Learning Curve Counseling. Mike loves some good chips, salsa, and queso.
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Matt Stanland

Music Director
Matt is married to his wife Erin. He has 3 boys...Mason, Landon, and Devon. Matt enjoys playing music with his band Wild Pines (check them out on Spotify), listening to music (collecting records), sports (Football, Hockey), all things involving Star Wars, going to Disney World, and eating a well prepared Steak.....also did we mention he loves Star Wars?
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Jessica Nguyen

Adult Ministries Coordinator
Jessica is our Adult Ministries Coordinator and loves her job! Jess also loves yoga, sushi, cats and coffee. She has four kids ages 11, 14, 18 and 20 and has lived in Florida her entire life.
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Toni Salem

Front Office Administrator
Toni has been on staff since 2019. She has 2 teenagers and has been married to her husband Raed for 17 years. She enjoys ALL of her free time watching her daughter play sports… lol. And cooking and watching the occasional movie with her fam:)
Email Toni