|
|
Our Staff Our Staff
To contact a member of the staff, please click on their name to open an
email message or call the church office at 602.263.5013.
|
Senior Pastor
Mike Pearson loves his work at First United Methodist Church, so that his second avocation, bookbinding, is suffering.
Mike is from Michigan, but he and his wife Bethyl have lived in Arizona for the past 26 years. He has served churches in Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale and Mesa.
For the six years prior to coming to First United Methodist he was the South District Superintendent. He served churches in Michigan and taught at a Methodist Mission School in Seoul, Korea before relocating to AZ. He recently has been reading a series of mysteries by Scandinavian authors. His interests include collecting rare Bibles and early John Wesley books.
He and Bethyl are enjoying being back in Phoenix, which allows them time to spoil their grandson.
Mike and his wife both like to cook, so he has been blogging about the issue of simple meals with recipes from The More-with-Less Cookbook. He will also post exerts from his book, Letters From Maybe. Visit Mike's Blog www.mikepearson11.blogspot.com/
|
Associate Pastor
Joel loves people! His favorite part of the job is meeting people and listening to their stories. One of his favorite activities is just hanging with people, which on occasion has gotten him into some goofy situations. But that makes for an even better story.
Joel graduated from Anderson University (IN) with a Bachelor’s degree in voice performance and is rediscovering his love for music by taking guitar and voice lessons.
If you ever want to jam (real slow, at this point) give him a buzz! He went to seminary at Anderson School of Theology and is currently taking classes at Claremont School of Theology, which is turning him into a church history nerd.
Joel is blessed to have two amazing daughters, who are his daily God Sightings, Heidi (7) and Anna (5).
|
|
Minister of Music
Minister of Music, Joshua Elder loves the music program here at First Church. From Bach to Rock he lives and breathes music that brings honor and praise to our Everlasting God.
Joshua holds degrees in music from ASU and
U of A (a man divided), and spent nearly 10 years in the San Francisco Bay area working as a singer, voice teacher, opera director and conductor before returning to Phoenix in 2011.
In his down-time, he enjoys hiking Piestewa Peak and catching a Diamondbacks game. Joshua is married to Jessica - Children’s Choir Director and mezzo-soprano extraordinaire – and loves to play with his 3 kids: Ian, Emma Jean, and Alice.
|
Youth Pastor
Todd is a longtime member of First Church. He graduated from ASU with a degree in Finance and later received his seminary degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary through the FUMC Scholarship Foundation.
Todd has previously served as a pastor in Prescott and Glendale, AZ. He has been with First Church for the past four and half years. He works full-time for Habitat for Humanity. He and his wife Laura have two children.
|
|
Business Administrator
Russ graduated from Ball State University with a BS is Finance and Administration. He has held positions in banking, trust and church administration and joined the staff of First Church in 2001.
He enjoys watching the Cardinals and Diamondbacks games. Russ is married to Dianna and they have two children.
|
Parish Nurse
Robin graduated from the University of California San Francisco. She has work experience in ICU, operating room and clinical research. Many of those years were at Stanford Medical Center.
Robin loves a good laugh so she reads the comics faithfully each morning. Another favorite interest is gardening. Robin has recently become addicted to the Downton Abbey television series. She is now only two seasons behind, but catching up fast.
|
|
Director of the Weekday School
Beckie grew up in Arizona and graduated from ASU with a degree in Secondary Education. She has over 30 years of experience working in childcare and loves her job as Director of The Weekday School.
Beckie is married to Scott and has one daughter. In her spare time she likes to garden, read, ride bikes, go to Cardinals games and vacation in Hawaii.
|
Project Manager
Kelli grew up in Michigan and graduated from Central Michigan University. She moved to Arizona right after graduation and has not missed the cold weather at all! Kelli and her husband Eric enjoy spending time in Laguna Beach, CA and going to the beach. In her spare time she likes to read, hike and spend time with her family.
|
|
Office Manager
Stephanie is a life long Midwesterner from Columbus Ohio who moved to Phoenix for 2 important reasons: family and sunshine! She was a creative writing major at Ohio University, and when she's not cheering on her Bobcats or Buckeyes, she can be found cheering on her nieces and nephews at any of their events. She loves to read and write (of course), but also has an intense interest in music and live concerts.
|
Jessica Elder holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from U of A. She has worked for many years as a private voice and piano instructor, and has also taught singing classes for children. Jessica has been directing children's choirs and musicals in church settings for several years. As a performer, she has appeared in leading roles with reputable opera companies and as a guest soloist with many symphonies and choruses. Her work as a music educator included a position as Master Voice Teacher for the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Jessica is blessed to lead children in worship through song. Jessica is married to Joshua Elder and has three children.
|
|
Organist
Jonathan is thrilled to be a part of the First Church family, and enjoys creatively exploiting all the resources the church organ has to offer each Sunday. A recent transplant to Phoenix from the Midwest, he is enjoying the heat (most days), sunshine and adventures of learning a new city. Jonathan is a doctoral student in organ performance at Arizona State University. He holds degrees in organ from the University of Kansas and St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
|
|
|
Campus Staff
|
Campus Staff
|
 Don VanceCampus Staff
|
|
|
Cllck on the cross and flame for the United Methodist web site, www.umc.org
|
