Pastors, Hughes

Pastors Jerome and Ruletta Hughes have been married for over 27 years. Jerome was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Ruletta was born and raised in Edenton, North Carolina. They met in college at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Both Jerome and Ruletta are educators in the Asheville City Schools system. They are both passionate about education. Jerome and Ruletta both earned their bachelor’s degrees at UNC-Chapel Hill. Jerome earned a masters degree at Western Carolina University, Ruletta at East Tennessee State University. Jerome and Ruletta have been blessed with two sons, Jerome and Timothy. Strangely, though Jerome and Ruletta are true Tar Heel fans, both of their sons are diehard Duke fans (Oh well. You can’t win them all!!). In fact, Timothy recently graduated from Duke Law School. Jerome, Jr. is working towards a Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) at Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Everyone in the family takes education seriously.

The Hughes family also has tons of fun together!!! They are crazy about the ocean and usually take a family vacation to the beach over the summer. Unlike some folk who just like to look at the ocean, Jerome, Ruletta, Timothy, and Jerome, Jr. have been known to spend hours at a time in the ocean boogie boarding, body surfing, and just enjoying the water. Church is important to Jerome and Ruletta, but they put family first (though not before God).

It’s said that opposites attract. Well, there may be some truth in that. Jerome and Ruletta have very different gifts and interests. Ruletta is very detailed oriented. Jerome tends to see the big picture but often misses the details. Ruletta is a talented musician and vocalist. Jerome is, well, shall we say, lacking in musical intelligence.. Ruletta is crazy about anything purple. Jerome likes green a lot but for no particular reason. Yes, Jerome and Ruletta are opposites in many ways, but in the most important way they are similar: They both love God and one another passionately. They are best friends and each other’s number one earthly counselors. Together, they co-pastor The Lord’s Church of Asheville, intertwining their individual gifts to “equip people of every race to walk in the love of God.”