A Welcome by our Founder
Through everything I've experienced in life, including over 20 years in the funeral industry, nothing ever prepared me for the death of my brother on November 8, 2015. I only made it through because of my relationship with Christ and the strong, grounded Christians who surrounded me, providing vital community support. I cried out to God, asking for something good to come from his death, and that is how Cook Ministries was birthed.
According to Newton's third law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I believe that holds true in the spiritual realm as well. For everything bad that happens, we must seek the good. Sometimes it’s easy to find, while other times we have to look extra hard, wait on God, and even wrestle with doubts. In the process of 'finding the good,' I built this ministry. Many details and events of our ministry emerged from these opposite reactions.
Through all the hurt, grief, and loss, I've learned to cultivate thankfulness. I'm grateful that God has placed so many wonderful friends in my life and my brother's life. Most of our volunteers are personal friends, which makes every event even more special. This community support has been a cornerstone of our mission.
The name Cook Ministries has absolutely nothing to do with me, but everything to do with my brother and his legacy. It's all about helping others in memory of my brother, Johnny.
The Bible tells us in Luke 15 the parable of the Lost Sheep; my prayer is that this ministry can reach out to that one person who feels lost and overwhelmed—just one! I pray and believe there will be many more, but the most important thing is that we treat everyone as if they are the only one. This aligns with our commitment to mental health awareness.
Perhaps it's still my personal grief for what I couldn’t do for my brother that drives me to help someone else. Most importantly, I’m learning to allow God to use me, regardless of the circumstances that surround me. God, use me to make a difference; use me in the midst of my own faults and failures, and I will go.
Thank you, God, for my brother's unconditional and protective love over 43 years. May my next 43 years be used to serve you, to show that same love my brother showed me, and to reflect the true love of Christ while meeting the spiritual needs of others!
Karen
Esther 4:14
Our Team
Karen Cook
John and Kathy Lackey
John and Kathy Lackey
Hanceville, Alabama
Karen serves on our team as Chaplain and Project Leader
John and Kathy Lackey
John and Kathy Lackey
John and Kathy Lackey
Hanceville, Alabama
John and Kathy are from Alabama and lifelong family friends of the Cook's, along with Kathy’s entire family. John serves as Vice President and pastor of our ministry, where he focuses on community support and addressing spiritual needs. Kathy serves on our Board of Directors, actively contributing to our mission of mental health awareness.
Both are leaders who volunteer whenever their help is needed. You'll find Kathy at almost all of our events, warmly greeting people and running our table, embodying the values of community support and compassion.
Sheila Self
John and Kathy Lackey
Pastor John Skinner
Cullman, Alabama
Sheila serves on our board of directors and is Executive Director of The Cross
Ministries.
She is a Deliverance Minister & Mentor who specializes in Christian Mentoring.
She mentors individuals one-on-one or in group settings, supporting both adults and children. As a minister of the gospel through The Cross Ministries, she is passionate about sharing the goodness of God.
Pastor John Skinner
Pastor John Skinner
Pastor John Skinner
Brent, Alabama
Bro. John serves as a Mentor and Advisor to our ministry, providing invaluable community support.
He founded Compassion & Hope Food Basket, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that offers hot meals for the hungry, addressing both physical and spiritual needs within our community.
Since 1996, he has been actively going to the streets to feed the hungry, and in 2019, he opened the Soup Kitchen in Brent.
It was on the streets of Birmingham, AL, in 2011 where Bro. John and our founder, Karen, first met as she began serving alongside his team. It was during this time that God bonded a deep friendship between them.
Bro. John played a crucial role in sparking the vision for our program, The Food Basket, and he consistently provides guidance and encouragement not only for that program but for our ministry as a whole.
He continuously teaches us the importance of community support and emphasizes that 'we get to serve', not that we have to serve, instilling a sense of purpose and promoting mental health awareness through acts of love for others.
Miranda Murray
Pastor John Skinner
Miranda Murray
Jasper, Alabama
Miranda serves as our Intercessory Prayer Warrior, providing vital community support. Having experienced firsthand God's miraculous healing power from a sickness that doctors could not explain or treat, she understands the profound impact of prayer. It was through her physical healing that she realized the importance of addressing not just spiritual needs but also promoting mental health awareness, as her desire to pray for others deepened.
Gene Anderson
Pastor John Skinner
Miranda Murray
Cold Springs, Alabama
Gene has been a lifelong family friend of the Cook’s and serves with our team as a volunteer dedicated to community support. He is always ready and willing to facilitate in any manner that he can, demonstrating a heart to help others. Gene is often first in line to ensure that needs are met, whether it’s addressing spiritual needs or promoting mental health awareness to help families.
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Alabama
Kelly Jo is a faith-driven voice with a heart for discipleship, restoration, and real-life transformation through Jesus Christ. With a focus on community support, she encourages others to navigate their spiritual needs and hold onto God's promises amid life's chaos, reminding them that no situation is beyond His redemption.
As the founder of @covenantinthechaos and the Voices of Redemption podcast, she engages in real conversations about real struggles, emphasizing mental health awareness and pointing people to freedom through Jesus Christ.
Follow her on Instagram @covenantinthechaos
Susan McDonald
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Birmingham, Alabama
Susan serves as a Legal Advocate and certified counselor with a passion for justice, restoration, and second chances. She is dedicated to community support and empowering women in recovery through her initiative, One Touch Freedom, which helps individuals rebuild their lives with purpose.
Since November 2025, Susan has worked within a law firm setting, continuing her advocacy in the legal field while pursuing her legal education. She brings firsthand experience, compassion, and practical insight to the cases she supports, particularly in promoting mental health awareness among those she assists.
Susan is also the author of Extraordinary Love, a powerful reflection on faith, redemption, and the transforming grace of God. Through her writing, advocacy, and ministry, she shares her story to inspire hope and courage in others, addressing their spiritual needs along the way.
As a certified ministry leader, Addiction Recovery Christian Counselor, and ordained minister through Joan Hunter Ministries and Heaven of Earth Ministries, Susan combines faith and law to advocate for those who often feel unheard. She is especially passionate about standing in the gap for individuals navigating the legal system and believes deeply in redemption, accountability, and hope.
Korey Burris
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Korey Burris
Orange, Texas
Korey serves on our team as a Suicide Prevention Advocate and Motivational Speaker, focusing on community support and mental health awareness.
He is the president of Suicide Prevention & God's Helpers, a Chaplain, and a Certified Clinical Christian Counselor dedicated to addressing spiritual needs.
As a suicide survivor, he has a heartfelt commitment to helping others navigate their challenges.
Susan Daniel
Susan Daniel
Korey Burris
Tyler, Texas
Susan serves on our social media team, where she plays a vital role in fostering community support.
She facilitates our Facebook page and our Facebook support group, focusing on promoting mental health awareness.
With a heart to uplift and encourage others, we are incredibly thankful for her faithfulness to God, our ministry, and addressing the spiritual needs of those we serve!
Keith Waters
Susan Daniel
Keith Waters
Crane Hill, Alabama
Keith serves on our team in several aspects, including, but not limited to, mentoring those in recovery, participating in SAA meetings, and providing community support for individuals struggling with suicide ideations and mental health awareness.
Born in 1959, he would barely qualify as a “baby boomer”. Born a Methodist, raised theologically Baptist, and spent time in the Church of God.
His family was in church every time the doors were open. His mom sang in the choir, and his dad was a Sunday School teacher and a prominent lay leader in every church they attended, which helped shape their spiritual needs.
As the middle child of three boys, all less than three years apart, he also has a sister who is 10 years his elder. The three boys attended a Christian school for 6 years, where he first drank liquor and smoked his first marijuana.
After Christian school and high school, he graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Accounting.
Following that initial taste of liquor and marijuana in 10th grade, he mostly abstained until after college. Unfortunately, he then fell in with the wrong crowd and engaged in drinking and smoking on and off for over 10 years.
He became very adept at balancing his church commitments on Sundays while drinking and smoking the other six days of the week. His family was mostly unaware of his double life. By the time he reached his late 30s, he was in turmoil, eventually facing a foreclosure notice on the house he had bought, which served as a major wake-up call. He began a two-year journey in Alcoholics Anonymous, primarily attending meetings without focusing on personal growth. Eventually, he stopped attending altogether and spent almost two years being high every waking hour until he found himself in the back seat of a police car with his hands handcuffed behind his back.
This experience prompted him to take AA and the 12 steps seriously. Within the next two years, he achieved sobriety and met his beautiful wife, Jackie.
The rest, as they say, is history. He now takes God seriously and daily sees how God has begun to do marvelous things with his life, fulfilling both his spiritual needs and those of others through community support.
Byron Hunter
Susan Daniel
Keith Waters
Winnsboro, Texas
Byron serves on our social media team, facilitating our Facebook page, Facebook support group, and Instagram to foster community support.
Life Coach Byron is a dedicated mentor and visionary behind H.E.I.R.S Institute, committed to helping others grow beyond their circumstances while promoting mental health awareness.
With a heart for service and a passion for prison reform, he mentors individuals on mindset, discipline, and purpose, addressing their spiritual needs. Byron helps amplify messages that inspire change, growth, and real transformation.
Volunteers
We have many volunteers who provide vital community support on a regular basis and some who help periodically, including UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Mental Health Interns. Regardless of how often they are with us, they are truly family. We love and appreciate them because their contributions are essential to our mission of promoting mental health awareness and addressing spiritual needs. We couldn't do all that we do without each one of them!
