Leadership team
nICOLE cOTTON
Nicole cotton | lEAD Pastor
Feeling called to ministry at a very young age, I began pursing my call in 2007. My husband Beau and I (married in 2007) began serving in youth ministry together in 2009 at our home church in Beebe, AR. I moved to my first staffed youth pastor position in 2012 (Vilonia, AR) and served there until 2018. In 2018, I was ordained and shortly thereafter stepped into my first lead-pastor position, where my calling felt more fulfilled than ever (Sherwood, AR). Beau is district licensed and is on track to be ordained in just a few years and we are passionate about serving in ministry together.
In my spare time, I enjoy drinking coffee and watching a good movie or show. When time permits, I enjoy photography and outside activities with my family.
beau cotton
beau cotton | associate pastor
Beau wears many hats (figuratively, I have not seen him physically wear a hat…). By day he is our community and discipleship pastor, by night when he’s not hanging out with his family he rocks out on the drums. He uses this special skill to bless our praise team during worship on Sundays, has been a major contributor towards the community garden, and serves in our Youth Ministry. When he’s not playing drums he can often be found serving in the sound booth and helps manage equipment and other technical-type thingies.
He is district licensed in the Nazarene church and has a Bachelor's degree in Pastoral Leadership from Nazarene Bible College. He is in the process of obtaining ordination.
In case you were wondering -Yes! He is Pastor Nicole’s husband. They met at a young age and needless to say, he was smitten. They both grew up in central Arkansas and have two kids, Nora and Jonah.
Nikki Whitney
Judy Hand | Worship Leader
I’ve always loved music, as a child I thought the music before the sermon was like having dessert first. God has often spoken to me through music. I’ve known Jesus as Savior since I was 15.
Burl and I met at church and have been married 43 years. We are blessed with 2 sons and daughters in law and three of the most amazing grandchildren. Burl is a retired dentist and I retired from teaching earlier and then went to work for Burl. We enjoy retired life and look forward to developing some new hobbies once we are moved into our new house. We feel God still has plans for us.
Burl and I were raised Baptist but the small church we had been part of did not survive Covid. We are so happy God led us here to BFCN.
I have been a worship leader for almost 20 years prior to BFCN. I can’t say enough about our worship team here. Our vocalist and band are wonderful and helpful. They are most accommodating with my abilities and lack of abilities. God has made it clear to me that I am to incite His people to worship, that is my aim every Sunday whether from in front of church or from my seat.
Karen Dissett
Dawn franklin | admin assistant
Dawn is a life-long Nazarene and started attending BFCN in 2017 and officially transferred her membership in the fall of 2020. She has been actively serving in Children’s ministry as a toddler room teacher since the early days of attending the church, and then she re-started the Kid City Ministry after the covid shut down and has been working as a volunteer in that area ever since. She loves children and has always felt called to work with children in some capacity. That calling led her to leading her own in-home childcare for many years, until 2024 when she officially “retired” from that setting. Before child-care, Dawn worked in retail, banking, and doing administrative work for her previous pastor’s business.
Dawn and her husband Adam have been married since 2007 and have beautiful twin daughters, Emma and Bella. She loves her family with everything she has and loves to spend as much time with them as she can, while also leaving time for her friends, whom she loves dearly as well. She also loves traveling, going to The Fox and The Muny, and taking her kids anywhere that provides excitement and memories. She is very excited to join the BFCN Staff and take on this new opportunity as Administrative Assistant and can’t wait to see how the Lord works in her life and in her servanthood here at BFCN.
BFCN Church Board Members
Phil christensen (NmI)
Connie Griffin
Greg Parcell
Cathy dothager
Burl hand
Bryan Skelton
Adam Franklin
Stu leach (NYI)
Larry Wankel (NDI)
At Belleville First we are blessed with a great leadership team
who are committed to the Kingdom and serving you.