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Welcome to First United Methodist Church!

FUMC People

Co-Pastor – Rev. Claire Childress
Claire has been in ordained ministry for more than twenty years in a working life which took a twisting path to get her to it. Her several “second careers” were preceded by a first one in psychiatric social work after graduating from DePauw University in 1967, and included journalism, broadcasting, public relations, and -- yes, even real estate sales.
Along the way she earned a Master of Arts in Speech and Theatre (Pittsburg State University, 1972) and a Master of Divinity (Iliff School of Theology, 1985.) After early years in ministry as a hospital chaplain, she took a deep breath and began serving churches in 1988, beginning at First UMC, Colorado Springs, and moving on to St. Andrew UMC (at that time in Littleton), Christ UMC in Salt Lake City, and Westminster UMC, serving the last with husband and co-pastor Keith Thompson for eight years prior to coming to Boulder.

Her primary ministry areas here are worship and pastoral care; she plans and preaches in most worship services, and attends to the ups and downs of the personal lives of FUMC members and friends. She also is involved in the Theologian-in-Residence program and Reconciling Ministries, and is delighted to leave much of the remainder of committee meetings and church administration to her trusty co-pastor. She has been a leader in the Academy for Spiritual Formation since 1999, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Frasier Meadows Retirement Community. For fun, she loves to read, write, cook, get as close to the ocean as possible and laugh at the antics of the family Labradoodle, Gracie.

Co-Pastor – Rev. Keith Thompson
Keith considers himself a postmodern, Wesleyan, evangelical, liberal Christian. His ministry emphasizes working toward a more loving, just and peaceful world. Keith has been an active participant in 'The Church and Homosexuality' workshops prior to General Conference meetings since 1992. He was Co-Leader of an Annual Conference Kenya Mission Team and has served as 'Council for the Church' at the Annual Conference Committee on Investigation. He has degrees from Wichita State University, Southern Methodist University and received his Master of Divinity, with honors from Iliff in 1981.

Office Manager – Julie Heins
Julie threw her hat in the entrepreneurial ring a few years ago offering administrative, bookkeeping and publication support to clients in the Boulder area through her business, In The Nick Of Time. Previously, she worked at the University of Colorado in the Division of Continuing Education for ten years. In addition to office work, Julie is a Master Level Reiki practitioner and teacher. Julie has lived in Boulder with her husband, Fred, and son, Jake, for 18 years. Her interests include playing with the family dogs, spending time with her family, writing and self-improvement.

Director of Music and Facilities Use Coordinator – Evanne Browne
Evanne moved to Boulder in 2005 with her husband, Tom Prugh, and son, Gordon, and has found the perfect two jobs at FUMC to match her interests. She was Director of Music at 1st Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland, and well-established as a solo singer in the Washington, DC area. On the business end, Evanne worked 14 years for the Smithsonian where she managed IT training and the Procurement Division. She has a Bachelor of Music degree and earned her Masters in Music from Rice University. Here in Boulder, Evanne, a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, teaches private voice, is soprano section leader of Ars Nova Singers, and has appeared as soloist with Boulder Bach Festival, with Boulder Acoustic Society, and the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of CO. She loves FUMC’s enthusiasm for its growing music program and the community that's developing through sharing a love of music making and lives.

Director of Children's Ministries – Aerin Bender-Stone
Aerin Bender-Stone is a non-ordained, professional United Methodist lay minister who has a Masters Degree in Theological Studies from the Divinity School at Duke University. She served as Director of Youth and Family Ministry for five years at Laguna Beach UMC in California where she was responsible not only for the teenagers, but also for church-wide family events for all ages. Prior to her time in Laguna Beach, she served as Interim Director of Christian Education for two summers at St. Paul UMC in Louisville, Kentucky, and she spent two years as Children’s Choir Director at Trinity UMC in Durham, North Carolina. Aerin lives in Arvada with her husband Phil and her two children, four-year-old Oscar and two-year-old Lily.

Director of Youth Ministries – Zac Alstad
Zac obtained his BA in Psychology at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Psychology. He lives in Allenspark, and has served as the summer Youth Director at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church since 2003. He brings to us a deep faith and many interesting international experiences (student ambassador to the Netherlands, Habitat volunteer in Kenya and Tanzania, semester studies in Greece, Turkey and South Africa, and has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro). He greatly enjoys working with youth and supporting them in their faith journey.

Deacon – Theologian in Residence Program – Rev. Rosalee Blake
As an ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, Rosalee’s role is to embody, articulate, and guide the people of God in its servant leadership. Her primary ministry is hospital chaplaincy; Rosalee serves her secondary appointment at FUMC where she directs the Theologians in Residence program, and assists the pastors. She works for inclusion of all in the Church as she coordinates the Parents Reconciling Network in the Rocky Mountain Conference. Rosalee holds a degree from Southern Illinois University, and received her Master of Arts in Theology, with a focus in Christian education, from Bethany Theological Seminary.

Custodian – Francisco Ruiz
Cisco joined FUMC in 2005, after 5 years doing maintenance for Tantra Lake Apartments. Before that he was Grounds Coordinator at Ball Aerospace in Boulder and Broomfield for 7 years. He is originally from El Salvador and has been working in the Boulder area since 1976. Religion is important to him, so he particularly enjoys working at FUMC, where he also regularly volunteers his help at our monthly Soup Kitchen. In his spare time he enjoys fishing and is active in an over-40 soccer club that plays in tournaments as far away as Las Vegas.

HolbrookContracted Organist – Gerald Holbrook
Gerald moved to Fort Collins in 2008 after completing his Doctorate in organ performance at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While in Lincoln he taught organ at Union College and Gregorian chant at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. He also has a Master’s degree in piano performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Once settled in Colorado he quickly became immersed in the local music scene and currently teaches at Front Range Community College, is a board member of the Tri-State AGO, is the accompanist for the Laudamus Chorale, and the newly elected president of Opera Fort Collins Guild. Having been introduced to the mountains years ago while attending Rocky Ridge Music Center, he is delighted to be back in the area as he has a special love for the mountains, and hiking is one of his favorite pastimes. He is also very happy to be involved with a church that has a music program both excellent and diverse, and a community dedicated to outreach and Reconciling Ministries.

Contracted Bookkeeper – Susan Westerwick
Susan currently owns her own bookkeeping business; she studied accounting in college and has worked in the accounting field since 1975. Originally from the Washington DC area, she speaks fluent Hungarian and attended high school at a Hungarian school in Germany (her mother's family is from Hungary). Susan loves to ski, bike, walk, and play bridge. She is married to an engineer/ artist/cyclist/skier/french horn player and has a son at Regis University in Denver studying business. She also has a very sweet English Labrador dog named Sally.

Seiffertt photoContracted Child Care – Katie Seiffertt
Katie has a BS degree in Applied Psychology from Regis University. She has worked with children for the majority of her life. Anything from babysitting, to being the director of a non-profit tutoring program, to being a nanny, to preschool teacher, to nursery coordinator at various churches. She enjoys working with children, seeing how they learn and helping them achieve their potential. Katie is the mother of 3 year old identical twins, Harriet and Elise. She has been married to her high-school sweetheart, Michael, for almost 10 years. When the girls are sweet enough to give her a bit of down time she enjoys scrapbooking, quilting, reading, and watching movies or TV shows other than Backyardigans, Super Why, and Dragon Tales!