Incoming Leaders

My parents brought me to church when I was young, and it was there that I first experienced the love of God. I remember deciding at 7 years old that I wanted to commit my life to Christ. Throughout middle school and high school, I loved attending youth group and serving in the kids ministry at church. When I was in high school, I regularly wrote in a prayer journal. One day, I was flipping through it and reading previous prayers I had written, and I was amazed at the way God had answered prayers that I didn’t even remember praying! Even though I had already been walking with God, God’s faithfulness became real to me at that moment. I was blown away that God really does answer our prayers – that He cares deeply about us.

Knowing the love of God as I grew up changed everything for me. In difficult moments, I had the Lord to lean on, and He sustained me. I had hope and peace. My relationship with Jesus has grounded me and guided me throughout my life. One of the reasons I am passionate about the local church is because my own faith was fostered through the pastors, small group leaders, and mentors who poured into me.

How did the Spirit guide you to your current ministry and what has God called you to do through your ministry?

In 2015, I was sensing a call to pastoral ministry, but I was reluctant. I had just completed my degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and at the time I was working in a private practice internship to gain my hours for licensure. Stepping away from that and into pastoral ministry didn’t make sense to me. As I was wrestling with God about this, Lisa Jackinsky preached a sermon about being guided by faith, not fear. It felt like she was speaking specifically to me. I left my therapy job and began pastoring at FCC. Shortly after that, the door opened for me to work as a therapist at our church counseling center in addition to doing pastoral ministry. Since then, I have experienced a deep sense of peace that I am in the right place living out my calling.

As a therapist and a pastor, I love helping people move towards healing and growth, and helping them experience God’s deep love for them. I feel called to practice therapy within the church – to provide a theologically sound environment for people seeking Christian counseling from a Wesleyan perspective, especially women in ministry and egalitarian couples. I also feel called to disciple and shepherd those within the church from a pastoral role. I love leading the church in conversations that promote wholeness and mental health. I oversee the women’s ministry, leading annual retreats and monthly breakfasts where I seek to foster community, support, and belonging as we follow Christ together.

How did you come to first be involved with the Free Methodist Church and why have you chosen to continue your ministry in the Free Methodist Church?

The church I grew up in was non-denominational. I was first introduced to the Free Methodist Church towards the end of college when I began dating my husband Ben. Ben grew up immersed in the Free Methodist Church – he has a father who was a Free Methodist pastor (Dale Winslow) and a mother who is a Biblical scholar and seminary professor (Karen Winslow), both ordained elders in the Free Methodist Church. I began attending Foothill Community Church, the local church that my father-in-law pastored. I was intrigued by the denomination.

The more I learned, the more I realized that I really connected with Free Methodist values and Wesleyan theology. I love the origin story of the Free Methodist church, that it was founded on the principle of removing barriers for the poor. Here was a church that was not just teaching biblical values, but living them out. I am proud to belong to a denomination that prioritizes and advocates for justice and freedom. I resonate with the Wesleyan holistic view on health – that mental, physical, and spiritual health are interconnected. It was within the context of Free Methodism that I experienced the call towards vocational ministry and ordination, and the freedom and empowerment to follow God’s call on my life. I am excited about continuing to live out that call to minister and serve within the Free Methodist Church.