The Lanier United Methodist Church congregation will hear from a new leader Sunday as the Rev. Ed Tomlinson takes over as church pastor. Tomlinson previously has served at Northside, Mount Bethel, Allgood Road and Briarcliff churches and was also district superintendent of the Atlanta-Roswell and Rome-Carrolton districts. For eight years, he served as executive assistant to the bishop and has been a delegate to the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church since 1988 and to General Conference since 2000. Tomlinson and his wife, Nancy, have two married daughters and four grandchildren. A graduate of Emory and Henry College and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, he earned his doctorate of ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Ohio. Tomlinson’s service extends to a number of boards and agencies of the North Georgia Annual Conference. He was the first president of Aldersgate Homes for the developmentally disabled. He served as vice chair of the North Georgia Board of Ordained Ministry and chair of the Simpsonwood Conference and Retreat Center Board. In addition, he chaired a Conference Task Force on Persons Living in Poverty and the Building Committee for the United Methodist Center at Simpsonwood. Tomlinson is also a member of the Loan Committee of the North Georgia Foundation and chair of the Emory Pastoral Services Advisory Committee. He will deliver his first sermon at 11 a.m. Sunday at the church, 1979 Buford Highway. For more information, visit www.lanierumc.org.