Pastor Stephen was appointed to serve as our Senior Pastor on July 1, 2017. Prior to that, he served on the staff of the Florida United Methodist Children's Home and was the pastor of churches in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral.

Pastor Stephen was born and raised in the United Methodist Church. His father was a pastor in the Florida Conference. Stephen served on the leadership team at the Warren Willis Youth Camp for eight summers. That experience not only strengthened his faith, but it cultivated and nourished his calling into ordained ministry.

Pastor Stephen believes that the mission of the church is to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. The church should act in such a way that people get a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God is like.

He earned his BA from Florida South College and a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology.

Pastor Stephen has been happily married since 1988 to his wife, Jill. They have two adult children: James and Emma.

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Pastor Dennis was hired as Associate Pastor in 2014 after retirement where he served as Senior Pastor for sixteen years at the Thonotosassa United Methodist Church.

Pastor Dennis has a BA in Psychology from the University of South Florida and a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary. He served four years in the United States Air Force. He served on the District Leadership Council for fifteen years representing small church ministries and four years as chairperson of the committee for small church ministries for the Florida Conference.

Pastor believes the purpose of the Church is the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19.

Pastor Dennis is married to Virginia (Ginny) Roebuck and they have five adult children and eight grandchildren.

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Susan Daniels began as Director of Music Ministries in September 2022.  Prior to September, Susan was the Assistant Director of Music Ministries for the past year along with being the keyboard/vocalist for the contemporary service for the past twelve years.

Susan was raised in the United Methodist Church while growing up in New York.  After graduating from high school, she moved to Florida.  She earned a BA in Biblical Studies from Trinity College of Florida on a full music scholarship.  

In addition to the church music ministry, Susan has been a piano teacher for over twenty-five years, a piano accompanist for many schools, instrumentalists, choirs and various music venues. She also earned her Real Estate license and is currently a realtor with Keller Williams.

Susan embraces the importance of knowing the difference between performance and worship. Performance is for man’s entertainment and enjoyment.  In worship, man takes action to show love, loyalty and adoration to our precious Heavenly Father.

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Cynthia began in July 2016 as Administrative Assistant when she was approached by the church and asked if she would be interested in applying when there was a need to fill the position. Born and raised in Plant City she lived away most of her adult life, including many years in Italy, until family circumstances brought her back. The challenges of finding a job with a foreign work resume, amongst other circumstances, were overwhelming when an unexpected phone call from the search committee changed that. She believes that God orchestrated everything and her faith has been renewed, as well as deepened and strengthened.

First Church has been her church since 2014 when she was looking for a denomination that incorporated and encompassed Christian beliefs from a Southern Baptist upbringing and certain principals learned from living for many years in a predominately Catholic culture. She strongly believes in the United Methodist Wesleyan tradition because of its deep Christian commitment to local and global mission outreach and embracement of people from all walks of life.

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