OUR MISSION: REACH UP REACH IN REACH OUT TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST! |
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JC
Kelley, Senior Pastor
JC most recently served as the Kansas
City District Superintendent overseeing over 43 churches and 100 pastors. Throughout his years of ministry
JC has pastored small, medium, and large churches, his most recent being Valley
View United Methodist Church which had 1350 members and averaged 500 in
worship during his time there. JC comes to East Heights as the sixth
senior pastor. His passions are evangelism, life change through Jesus
Christ, making disciples, leadership, and preaching the good news of Jesus
Christ. JC has a Christian Ministry degree from Southern Bible College, a
Master of Divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of
Ministry degree from Perkins Theological Seminary. He has been married to Terie
Kelley for 34 years and they have two grown daughters, both who live in
Wichita. JC believes that his best years of ministry will be at East
Heights.
jc@ehumc.org |
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Charles Claycomb, Executive Pastor
Charles is an Elder in Full Connection and a member of the Kansas West Conference. He has served in ministry of the United Methodist Church since 1968, when he was appointed a college student pastor. The Claycomb family has resided in Wichita since 1992 where Charles served the Annual Conference as an Associate Council Director. More recently Charles was pastor of Woodland Church in Wichita for almost a decade. He is a graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield and Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. His continuing education has included two years of fulltime Clinical Pastoral Education at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita and studies in Conflict Resolution with the Center for Dispute Resolution in Boulder, Colo., and the Alban Institute in Washington, D.C. Over the past several years Charles has mediated conflicts in families, churches, institutions, and municipalities across the state. Charles is married to Martha. He is the father of four adult children; Daniel, David, Andrew, and Caroline and the grandfather of Jasmine and Jacob.
charles@ehumc.org |
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Brenda Heard, Pastor of Music and Worship Ministries
Since December of 1996, the music at East heights has been under the direction of Brenda Heard. Brenda continually seeks new and creative ways to enhance worship through music. She is committed to the mission of the music department: to glorify God and to energize the worship life of the church through music that is well-prepared and skillfully offered, is of a wide variety of styles, includes many people and resources, and contributes significantly to the worship atmosphere of the church.
Brenda is presently a Provisional Deacon in the United Methodist Church. A lifelong Methodist with a Master's Degree in Music Education from Wichita State University, Brenda brings a real passion for music in all styles that communicates the great traditions of the church in both old and new ways.
In addition, she has a great love for children. In June, 2007, Brenda and her family traveled with the Watoto Ministry Team to Uganda to build a home for children orphaned to the AIDS epidemic. Brenda can often be seen hanging out at the church nursery or holding babies during church events.
Brenda's husband Tony is a lieutenant with the Wichita Fire Department. Her oldest daughter, Emily, attends the University of Tulsa, while her youngest, Hallie, attends Robinson Middle School. The Heards are granted "permission" to live in their home by their two cats, Yinyue and XinXin-whose names are Chinese for "music" and "faith." In her spare time, Brenda composes and arranges music for many local groups, loves scrapbooking, is learning how to knit, and occasionally manages a round of golf.
brenda@ehumc.org |
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Becky Hilts, Director of Children's Ministries
Being asked to join the staff of East Heights was a chance to come home. Having been born and baptized into this congregation, my roots in East Heights run deep. My mother and grandmother joined the church in 1949. My parents were married in the chapel in 1955. I am a product of the Wichita Public Schools and have by degree from Oklahoma City University in Early Childhood/Elementary Education with a minor in Music/Vocal Performance. Having previously been a classroom teacher for 13 years, I have been on staff as director of Children's Ministries and Soprano Soloist in the choir since August 2008.
becky@ehumc.org
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Paige
Nelson, Director of Youth Ministries
To survive in youth
ministry you must have a passion for young people. Paige came to be in
ministry with the youth of East Heights shortly after she graduated from
Kansas State University. She began her ministry as a 6th grade
Sunday school teacher, then as a member of the interim youth staff. She was
called into full-time youth ministry and became the Director of Youth
Ministry in September of 1993. God’s ministry through her is rooted in the
desire to walk alongside youth on their faith journey. The hope is for
growth in their relationship with God through reaching out to others,
digging into God’s Word, worshipping, and creating friendship and fun with
others on the journey. Loving youth is a full-time adventure. A companion
with her in ministry is her husband, Scott. When they are not with the
youth, they love to spend time with their two dogs, Duke and Zeus and their
families. It is important to Paige that all youth know that East Heights is
a place where they are welcome and loved no matter what.
paige@ehumc.org |
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Kathy Lefler, Director of Lay Ministries
Kathy believes that God calls each of us to put our faith into action by serving in ministry. She is passionate about connecting members of the church family with a ministry that brings their God-given talents and gifts to life. Kathy also welcomes new members into the life of the church, Kathy, who joined the staff in 2001, has a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry from Friends University. She and her husband have two sons.
kathy@ehumc.org
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Beth
Strickler, Director
of Prayer and Visitation Ministries
Because we believe that prayer is essential and powerful, all that we do at East Heights is guided and supported by prayer. Beth has guided the prayer ministries of East Heights since 2000. Beth is a long time member and has served the church in other capacities as well. In 2004, when East Heights decided to take the next step and add a staff position to lead the church's life of prayer, Beth, heartily answered God's call. In 2008 she also assumed the ministry duties to develop East Heights' senior visitation program. Beth loves to minister to others through prayer and enjoys organizing prayer classes, groups, and events to teach, motivate, and inspire the Christians' life of prayer. Additionally, she enjoys visiting and offering spiritual nurture for senior members, those who are hospitalized, and parents of newborns in our church family.
Beth is trained as a Stephen Minister, enjoys Disciple, Beth Moore, and other Bible studies, and is active in the Faith Matters Sunday School class and the local Walk to Emmaus community. Her passion is to help people to discover the essential nature of prayer and lead them to a deeper relationship with God through prayer. Beth is interested in mentoring others in the Christian life as they seek spiritual direction and aspires to earn her certification in Spiritual Direction in the future.
Beth has a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Oklahoma State University where she met her husband, Eric. They have been happily married for 30 years (in June.) Eric is an attorney in private practice. They have three wonderful young adult children. Allen, their youngest at age 20, attends Wichita State University and is studying Mechanical Engineering. Karen, age 22, graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry in May 2008, and is a Research Scientist with NuPotential in Baton Rouge. Stephanie, age 24, has her Masters degree in Biology from the University of Tulsa and is pursuing a PHD and teaching Zoology at the University of Oklahoma.
In her spare time, Beth enjoys reading and sewing, but her favorite hobbies are those she enjoys with husband Eric, including cooking, vegetable gardening, rowing on the river, and visiting their children!
beth@ehumc.org
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Robin Eshelman, Preschool Director
Robin joined the Pre-school staff in 1997 as a teacher. She began co-directing the Preschool in 2002 and took over as the sole Director in 2004. As a Wichita State University graduate with degrees in both and Early Childhood and Elementary education, she is passionate about working with children. Although she is the Preschool Director, Robin chooses to continue to teach as well, and you may find her in the classroom more often than in her office. She loves the opportunity to interact with her staff to provide developmentally appropriate activities for the children. Robin has been married to her husband Christopher for 17 years and they have 2 busy sons of their own.
robin@ehumc.org
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Katie Bruyere, Director of Nursery & Children's Day Out
Katie is a 6th generation Methodist on both sides of her family. She joined East Heights in 2005 as a two year old teacher for Children's Day Out. She took over Director duties in Feb. of 2008, and took on Director of Nursery in June of 2008. She enjoys spending time with the many children and their families and is always excited to meet new people, taking her grandmother's advice to heart that you never meet a stranger. She is happily married to her husband Nathan and they love to travel to Northern New York each summer with their two energetic children.
katie@ehumc.org
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Vedrana
Barbir
Kitchen Coordinator
316-682-6518 |
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