Born and raised in a small town in Ohio, I grew up attending the Methodist church in my hometown. After graduating high school, I majored in German and English at Ohio Wesleyan University, earning my B.A. in 1970. For six years I taught high school students German and English.

During summer vacations during those six years, my husband and I traveled to Colorado and fell in love with the state and the mountains. Interestingly, the first trip we made to Colorado brought us into Loveland and to the tourist map and welcome center, then on the east side of the city. Oh, how things have changed since then!

After our many vacations here, we planned our move here in 1976. We parked our U-haul truck full of our belongings in Hygiene with my grandmother's cousin and drove around to find a place to live. Conveniently, we chose Longmont to put down roots. Just before the Big Thompson Flood, we moved into our first apartment and claimed Colorado as our home.

My husband and I started our own business, The T-Shirt Factory, in 1977, and began a family. We have three children: Stacie-23, Jenna-19, and Ryan-18. Stacie lives now in Longmont with her husband; Jenna is a third-year student at the University of Denver; Ryan is a freshman at Colorado State University.

During those years, I became actively involved in Longs Peak UMC, a single parent, and a student in seminary (in that order). I graduated from Iliff School of Theology in 1997, was ordained deacon in the UMC that year, was appointed to Hotchkiss/Crawford churches, and became an elder in 1999 in the United Methodist Church.

The most rewarding years of my life have been those in which I have realized God's love for me as an individual, Christ's redemptive work in my life, and the Holy Spirit's constant presence in my journey. My life is a testimony to the lengths God will go in order to seek, to find, to accept and to send us into the world, blessed to be a blessing! To God be the glory!

I hope to share these meaningful stories of my faith with you as you share yours with me! I hope to grow in faith together as we begin this journey in ministry at Trinity United Methodist Church. Please come and introduce yourself to me and share your stories with me.

In Joy,
Pastor Judi