Meet Jeff Sims

Jeff Sims (he/him) is a vocal ally, Pastor of Covington Presbyterian Church, and a really interesting guy. By all accounts he shouldn’t be the person who he is today. He grew up in Talladega, Alabama, a town roughly the size of Mandeville, at a time when segregation was very much a part of daily life. He started to realize just how much racism permeated every aspect of his life in 5th grade when he asked if his best friend George could spend the night. Jeff’s parents knew about George but Jeff never thought to mention the fact that he was black. When his dad realized this, Jeff was simply told “we don’t mix.” But Jeff was already used to hanging out with kids who were different from him. Besides the race track and prison, Talladega is home to the state institute for the deaf and blind and Jeff befriended many of the kids from that school. Perhaps these early experiences informed his decision to go into ministry. He has always really loved working with people and only ever wanted to work in helping professions. He spent 18 years working as a Chaplain for the Orleans Parish DAs office as a liaison between attorneys and victims of crime. Now he leads the Covington Presbyterian Church and is working towards a PhD in ministry. His favorite part of the job, unsurprisingly, is the people. The part he dislikes the most is the box he sometimes feels he’s put in because of the expectations people have about what a minister should be. 

A fun fact about Jeff is that he was a cheerleader in college and once as a kid stole a book on cancer from a library because he wanted to cure his grandfather's illness. If Jeff never had to work again he says he would be a hermit in the woods spending his days hiking and fishing. 

You can find Jeff on Wednesday evenings at the Southern Hotel drinking an Old Fashioned or at one of Our Library Board Meetings speaking up in support of our Queer Community even though his support sometimes comes at a price. For example, he lost some parishioners from his church when he officiated over the gay marriage of his choir director, but Jeff believes god’s love is for everyone and as his close friend Jarrett Bank’s would say “All means ALL.” 

Thank you Jeff for being such a loving open-minded person and an awesome ally. You’re a star!