|
|
|
|
|
| Pastor | Judith Bither |
| Director Youth and Children's Ministries | Sadie Stone |
| Office Administrator | Cynthia Owen |
| Director of Music / Organist | Cheryl Shingler |
| Chancel Choir Director | Andy Sonnemaker |
| Handbell Choir Directors | Linda and Ben Brown |
| Pastor Emeritus | John Emerson |
| Pastor Emeritus | Jacqueline Meadows |
| Nursery Care Worker | Jessa Wagner |
| Wedding Coordinator | Sue Roberts |
| Custodians | Jim Gerbel and Jose Franco |
Judith began serving First United Methodist Church July 1, 2010. She has served United Methodist churches in Northern California, Alaska, Montana and Wyoming since 1974. Having graduated from Pacific School of Religion in 1975, she is among the first wave of clergy women in the Calif-Nevada Annual Conference.
Judith has served on two General Boards for the denomination: Global Ministries and Church & Society. She has also attended The Academy for Spiritual Direction and is an approved Spiritual Director through Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA. She is also a trained Stephen Minister and is excited to get this ministry up and going again in Reno.
Judith is the mother of two adult children: a son whos a doctoral student at UNC, Chapel Hill and a daughter living in Sacramento with her husband and children. She loves being a Nana! Judith has sung in choirs since the third grade and truly appreciates the wonderful music ministry of First Church! She loves all kinds of music and plays the guitar. She is a avid reader, enjoys good movies and hiking in the mountains. Judith also has a golden-doodle named Arlo who often accompanies her to the office.
Contact Judith by calling the office at (775) 322-4564.
Director Youth and Children's MinistriesSadie is a recent graduate of Yale Divinity School where she
completed her Masters in Divinity. I also have a BA in Religious Studies
from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. While at Yale I worked
as a pastoral intern at a local United Methodist Church where my duties were
expansive and diverse and included working with children and young adults.
Prior to that I interned as a local community organizer.
My husband Marcus and I both grew up in Winnemucca, Nevada and we are the
parents of 14-month-old boy/girl twins Eli and Emerson. We are both excited
to return to Northern Nevada after spending the last three years on the east
coast.
I look forward to working with the children, youth, and their families at
FUMC to create new learning environments and activities. I am excited about
the incredible space available for the children and youth at FUMC. My hope
is to re-imagine some of that space to incorporate a new style of Sunday
school using Godly play and a rotation method of Sunday school so that each
Sunday offers a discovery model of learning for the children.
Cindy is married to Ron who works for the City of Reno. They have two kids, Blake and Katie, who are both in college. Cindy has worked with the City of Reno in the Community Development department most recently and at Fairgrounds Animal Hospital.
Cindy is in the office Monday-Friday from 8-5. You can send email to Cindy by .
Cheryl moved to Reno in 1971 from her hometown of Sacramento, California. She earned a B.A. at Cal State, Sacramento, and a Masters in Music from the University of Nevada, Reno. She is retired from the Washoe County School District where she was an elementary general music teacher for the first half of her career, and the School District Music Administrator for the second half.
Cheryl has been organist at First Church since 1981. She
has two children who grew up at First Church. She shares her outstanding
talent each Sunday as she brings the church's Moller pipe organ to life.
Handbell
Choir DirectorsLinda and her son Ben are a mother and son team. Linda, born in Kansas, is a strings teacher in the Washoe County School District, moving to Reno from South Carolina thirty years ago. She has been a member of first church for 25 years, and has raised two children in the church. Her major instrument is violin. She was a member of a local teachers' bell group for six years and occasionaly subs for Tintab. She plays violin in the Pops.
Ben is a grad student at UNR with a bachelors in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering. He has been raised in the church since he was born. He has been playing bells since 1994 years and is a member of the "Tintabulations" community handbell ensemble. Ben has also played Cello since 1996, and is a member of a the Reno Pops orchestra.
A native of San Jose, CA, John received his B.A. from Washington State Univ. and his MDiv. from Boston Univ. School of Theology. He served as pastor of this church from Jan. 1981 to July 1, 1984.
John shares invaluable skills from a lifetime of ministry. He is actively practicing the Methodist version of retirement, which he calls refirement being available to the pastor to assist in pastoral duties as needed. He has been known to say, The United Methodist Church may have retired me [July 1999], but God hasnt! I still have a fire in my bones for ministry and a continuing sense of call.
John has been in ministry since 1956 with special post-graduate training in marriage and family counseling. In addition he has had clinical training in geriatric mental illness and health at Boston State Hospital. He has studied spiritual formation and development especially as it applies to senior adults, who he likes to call Keenagers and Prime-Timers. He has had experience in grief counseling and crisis-intervention. In the 1980s and 1990s, John was an active volunteer in Kairos Prison Ministry.
John has been a civil rights activist, having marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.; has been a legislative advocate; and made an unsuccessful run for the Nevada State Senate. He is the past-president of the Retired Clergy Assoc. of the California-Nevada Annual Conference, and former United Methodist representative on and treasurer of the Board of the Religious Alliance of Nevada (RAIN). Among his active interests are writing prose and poetry, composing music, and writing hymns. Nevada Humanities has contracted John to author the History of Methodism in Nevada for the Online Nevada Encyclopedia.
Rev. Emerson is currently is a part-time chaplain with Circle of Life Hospice, Reno.
John and Janice have been married since 1955 and have three married daughters, 9 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.
Travis Linn (Oct. 6,
1938-January 17, 2003) a strong, influential and sensitive
leader at First Church once said, I believe in God, the
innate goodness of people and the joy of learning.
Jacqueline (Jacquie) resonates with his words, for her call
to Ministry, faith in the goodness others and educations are
active strains in her life.
From Pacific School of Religion she earned at Masters of
Arts in 1961; and a Masters of Divinity in 1974. She served
churches in the California-Nevada Annual Conference, was
Fresno District Superintendent (1990-94) and was pastor at
First Church from 1994-1999. In the retired status she was
on staff at Sparks UMC and served the Yerington UMC for 4
years. She has been teaching World Religions and Core
Humanities classes at Truckee Meadows Community College
since 2003. She loves to read murder mysterious, historical
novels and biographies. She bikes, goes to movies, works out
at the gym and reluctantly works in the yard.
Jacquie has four children and whether single or married they
make a contribution to church and the lives of others
personally and professionally. She is proud of her two
college age grandchildren.
The role of Pastor Emeritus provides the opportunity for her
to increase her support of First Church and Judiths
ministry.
Sue is a lifelong Methodist who grew up in western Pennsylvania and moved to Reno and Reno First in 1975. She received a BA from DePauw University and an MS from the University of Nevada, Reno. A retired SHARE teacher for the Washoe County School District, she continues to substitute teach in that program. She has two grown children and five grandsons. Her interests include choral singing, walking and hiking, and volunteering with her husband at a retreat community in the Washington Cascades.
Sue understands weddings to be an important part of the churchs outreach ministry. Her job is to coordinate the weddings, from the couples initial contact with the church through the wedding day. She may be reached at (775) 747-1631.
Review our Wedding Brochure here.
Jim is a full-time custodian for the Washoe County School District. He is a silent servant, an angel in our midst, who keeps the church sparkling. Jim is a single dad, the father of Haley and Taylor.
|
209 West First Street ● Reno, Nevada 89501 ● Telephone (775) 322-4564 ● FAX (775) 322-0285 © First United Methodist Church, 2009 ● Site Map ● Calendar of Events
|
