Faith Journey

In the United Methodist Church, a call to licensed or ordained ministry consists of three dimensions, grace, gifts and fruits, each closely intertwined. My call to ministry also reflects these areas.

Grace is my relationship with God. John Wesley talks about prevenient grace, the grace of God being present in each person, even before he/she knows who God is. I have felt this grace throughout my life. My parents had me baptized at Church of the Savior when I was six months old. It was important to them that I attended Sunday School regularly and one of my earliest childhood memories is of my Kindergarten Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Benedict. I always felt feelings of love and acceptance from my teachers. I was allowed to be involved in worship through our Children’s Choir and our Children’s Day Worship Services. This involvement continued through my high school years and I first accepted Jesus as my Savior at my UMYF retreat.

God’s grace has continued throughout my adult life. Even at times when I felt disillusioned, God has reached out to me and let me feel His unconditional love for me. This grace has brought me back to God, recognizing that through my belief in Jesus Christ, my sins are forgiven and I can start anew.

Because of God’s grace, I have been given gifts and talents that I have been allowed to use at Church of the Savior. I have used my gift of teaching as I have worked with children, youth and adults. I have been privileged to facilitate both adult and youth Disciple classes. As I facilitated the Disciple classes, God gave me the gift of exhortation. Through his guidance, I was able to explain various scriptures in a way that it was able to touch someone in a very specific way. Often, God puts me in a situation where a particular scripture comes to mind and it is exactly what the person I am talking to needs to hear.

I have been a Local Pastor for seventeen years. During this time, I have been privileged to share God’s Word through Scripture, prayers and sermons utilizing the gifts that God has bestowed on me.

Fruits are the evidence of the Holy Spirit working through God’s grace and the gifts bestowed upon me. I have experienced this evidence as God has called me to various forms of ministry throughout my adult life. In my twenties, God called me to give back to the church by becoming a Sunday School Teacher. I then answered the call to volunteer with the youth group. Because of my involvement in these activities, I was asked to co-facilitate the first Disciple class at Church of the Savior. It was during that time that I heard God calling me to apply for the position of Youth Director. I was blessed to hold the position for eight years. God strengthened my spiritual fruit of teaching during this time.

For five years, I participated in teaching Sunday School and various Disciple Bible Studies. Pastor George Roberts approached me about the possibility of becoming a Local Pastor. I prayed about this and it was clear that God said, “Wait”. I continued with my participation at Church of the Savior becoming a certified Lay Speaker, teaching classes and helping to lead worship at Mayfield and at various other services. In June 2007, I was one of the lay delegates to Annual Conference. The worship services touched my heart and God revealed to me that now was the time. After much prayer and study, I accepted God’s call to become a Local Pastor.

I was certified as a Local Pastor Candidate in March 2008 and completed Licensing School in June. I received my license in July 2008 and was appointed to a three-point charge. I completed the Course of Study in October 2020. It was exciting when I was appointed as the sole pastor at North Industry UMC in July 2010, where I served until I retired in 2024. God was not finished with me yet, and I was reappointed to the Trinity Cooperative, serving as the Lead Pastor at both Greentown and Uniontown UMCs. It is a joy to work with my co-pastors as the congregations are renewing their sense of mission and are actively looking at ways to reach the unchurched in the community despite being aged congregations.