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SEVERNA PARK
United Methodist
Church
PASTORS & STAFF
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Lead Pastor: Rev.
Ron Foster
Rev.
Ron is a graduate of Princeton University ('83) and
Duke Divinity School ('86). He has been an
adjunct faculty member at Wesley Theological
Seminary for the last eight years and a regular part
of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary's
Institute for Youth Ministry. Prior to coming to
SPUMC, he served churches in Boonsboro, Reisterstown
and Bethesda.
Ron
has been active in the area of youth ministry for
the past 35 years as a youth director, retreat
speaker, pastor, and workshop leader. Along with
Kenda Creasy Dean he co-authored The Godbearing
Life: The Art of Soultending in Youth Ministry.
Currently he is working on a Lilly-funded project
called The Sacred Lens: Photography as a Way of
Prayer.
His ministry passions include preaching and
creating dynamic worship experiences, teaching and
leading small groups, youth and adult mission trips,
and shaping communities of welcome and shared
purpose.
His other loves
include basketball (playing pick-up and watching way
too much ESPN), photography, soccer, travel,
writing, kayaking, and music of all kinds.
Rev. Ron and his wife, Holly, have two daughters,
Christine and Sara.
Holly works as Vice-President of Marketing for a
community development bank in Washington, D.C.
called City First Bank of DC. She is an avid sailor
and captains Alcor, an old but beloved 30-foot
Catalina docked in Clements Creek.
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Executive Pastor:
Rev. Nicole
Christopher Houston
Rev. Nicole is a native of
Pensacola, Florida and a graduate of Millsaps
College in Jackson, Mississippi. She graduated
from Candler School of Theology at Emory University,
Atlanta, Georgia May 2007. She interned as a
chaplain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta,
Georgia, and interned for a year at the Atlanta
Urban Ministry's, Women's and Children's Soup
Kitchen. She also worked for a year at Druid
Hills United Methodist Church as a seminary intern;
preaching, writing liturgy and teaching.
During seminary Nicole was
selected as a Ministry Fellow by The Fund for
Theological Education and received a grant with
which she created an Indian travel seminar to study
Liberation theology and oppressed women and
children. Nicole's passions include social justice
work, outreach, camping, retreat ministries and
missions.
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Minister of Pastoral Care:
Rev. Byron Brought
Rev. Byron was raised in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and studied at Cornell
University, Drew Theological Seminary, and the
University of Edinburgh. Now retired from full-time
service, he has been the pastor of numerous churches
in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, including
eighteen years at Calvary UMC in Annapolis. He has
also served a Methodist congregation in Bangor,
Northern Ireland. Old timers at Severna Park may
remember that he was the superintendent of the
Annapolis District from 1985-1992.
Byron and
his wife, Mary Kay, have two sons and four
grandchildren. Their older son, Byron, is the
pastor of Friendship UMC in Friendship, MD. He and
his wife, Kristen, have two sons, Josiah (15) and
Nicholas (13). Younger son, Andrew, is an attorney
in Kansas City, Mo. He and his wife, Kristen, have
two children, Alex (6) and Rowan (4). Mary Kay is a
Sales Director with Mary Kay Cosmetics. (Mary Kay
and sons Byron and Andrew were members of Severna
Park UMC when Byron was the DS.)
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Minister of Christian Education & Youth:
Rev.
Lee Ferrell
Lee Ferrell was born in
Baltimore and raised in Towson, a lifelong United
Methodist. She graduated from West Virginia
Wesleyan College with a Bachelor's degree in
Christian Education and graduated from Wesley
Theological Seminary with a Masters in Religious
Education. Lee is certified through the annual
conference in both Christian education and youth
ministries. She has been employed
by/associated with SPUMC since the mid 70's.
Lee likes: sunrises,
teenagers, jigsaw puzzles and chocolate. She
has two daughters: Beth is a Certified
Recreational Therapist. Tricia, is in
Communications. Lee is the proud
grandmother of Maggie, Paige and Piper.
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Director of Children's Ministries:
Erica
Benjamin
Erica Benjamin spent
the majority of her childhood in Northeast
Pennsylvania. Prior to moving to Pennsylvania she
lived in Kobe, Japan, Knoxville, TN and Atlanta,
GA. The daughter of a United Methodist pastor she
lived in several places in Pennsylvania, but
considers Noxen, Pennsylvania home. Her parents now
live in Deposit, NY.
She moved to Washington, DC in
2001 to attend American University where she earned
a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. During
college she spent a semester studying abroad in
Prague, Czech Republic. After graduation she taught
for 2 years at Gibbs Elementary School in DC. She
then enrolled at Wesley Theological Seminary in DC.
While in Seminary she completed her internship at
Central Union Mission, a homeless shelter and
transitional housing program for men where she wrote
literacy and Biblically based curriculum for the men
in the Spiritual Transformation Program. She
graduated from Seminary in May 2010 with a Masters
of Divinity specializing in Urban Ministry. She is
a Certified Candidate in the Baltimore Washington
Conference.
Erica was married to
Chris Bloom in 2010, she enjoys spending time with
her family, especially her niece Ellie who lives in
Rochester, NY. She also enjoys swimming, reading,
traveling, and cooking.
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Director of
Music and
Worship Arts:
Jon Brewer
Jon Brewer was
born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He lived in
parts of South Carolina, West Virginia, Mississippi,
and Ohio, but considers himself “raised” in West
Virginia. Jon attended Mount Vernon Nazarene
College and studied Music Education at the
University of Louisiana-Monroe. He was active in all
musical ensembles in college and won the Spirit of
the Sound of Today Award in 2005, given by the ULM
Band Alumni for excellence in music and school
spirit.
As his father was a minister, Jon
began participating in church music as soon as he
was able. Jon’s musical experiences are
diverse, having served at churches in city,
suburban, and rural areas. He has a love and
appreciation for all musical styles that can be used
to glorify God in worship.
Jon likes
animals, computers, and cooking. He is
married to Amanda Brewer and reside with their four-legged “children,”
Dexter, Jasmine, and Leia.
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Organist:
Nicola Patterson
Growing up in
Scotland as the daughter of a Presbyterian
minister, Nicola was exposed to great church
music (and wonderful pipe organs) from a
very early age. She began piano
lessons at age 6 and, after her family
emigrated to the U.S., she began organ
lessons with the abundantly-talented
Margaret Budd, organist of Second
Presbyterian Church where Nicola’s dad was
the pastor. Nicola graduated from Duke
University with a B.A. in Political Science,
but then returned to music full-time,
obtaining a B.Mus in Organ Performance from
Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore.
In addition to
playing the organ for SPUMC services, Nicola
enjoys working with the Sanctuary and
Contemporary choirs, the SPUMC Praise Bands,
children’s groups and the many gifted
soloists and instrumentalists who share
their talents in worship.
She lives in
Annapolis with her husband, Noel (fellow
Duke alum), and their two children, Bronwyn
and Andrew.
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CHURCH COUNCIL,
COMMITTEE LEADERS & INFORMATION
The
Church Council
serves as the executive agency of the Severna Park
United Methodist Church (SPUMC). It is
responsible for general oversight of the church's
primary mission as well as for the administration of
the church's activities and programs. The
"Methodist Discipline" requires the Council to
provide for the planning and implementation of
programs of nurture, outreach, witness, and
resources and to provide for the administration of
the Church's organizational and temporal life.
The Charge Conference elects the chairperson each
year. Council members include all SPUMC
pastors, Committee
Chairpersons and representatives from
organizations and ministries within the church.
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OTHER MINISTRY
LEADERS
Contact
information for other church ministries can be found
on the
Committees & Leaders
web page
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For further information
call the Church Office 410-987-4700.
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