Bishop Alfred Johnson

Bishop Johnson came to our church in 2005, appointed to lead the church as it made its transformation from three congregations into one. Having been a retired Bishop of the United Methodist Church, Bishop J. (as we call him) returned to active ministry to answer our call for a dynamic, visionary leader who would unify our congregation and take us in a new direction. He has been part of the United Methodist Church ministry since 1975, serving in many leadership roles in the Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York area. He received his Masters of Theology from Boston University School of Theology and earned a Doctor of Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary. He was elected and consecrated as Bishop in 1996.

bishopj@churchofthevillage.org

 

 

Pastor Vicki Flippin

The Rev. Vicki Flippin serves as the Pastor of Social Justice, Exploring Faith, and Inter-generational Ministries. A graduate of Yale Divinity School and the University of Chicago, Rev. Flippin previously served as the first pastor of color at Diamond Hill UMC in Cos Cob, Connecticut, which officially affiliated with the LGBT rights movement during her tenure. This year, Rev. Flippin was selected as one of twenty outstanding young clergy throughout the country to participate in the Lewis Fellows leadership development initiative out of Wesley Seminary in D.C. In her annual conference, she currently serves in leadership roles on the Commission on Religion and Race, working for racial equality, and Methodists in New Directions, working toward full rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and families in the United Methodist Church. She maintains close family and church ties to both Taiwan and the American Midwest and enjoys life in New York City with her husband and two eccentric cats.

pastorvicki@churchofthevillage.org

 

 

Pastor Sara Giron-Ortiz

Pastor Sara serves in the role of “Vision Bearer” for The Church of the Village, appointed by the UMC Conference in mid-2011. In that capacity, she leads services for the Spanish-speaking community within our Church. A Manhattan native, she received her divinity degree in 1998 from Andover-Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA, and then served as a pastor for several Hispanic congregations in the New York area. Most recently, she is a pastor at San Pablo UMC in Astoria, which involved acting as Vision Bearer for that church’s Greenpoint congregation. We are grateful that Pastor Sara has joined our community.

pastorsara@churchofthevillage.org

Student Intern – Juliana Bateman

Juliana Bateman is a second year Master of Divinity student at Union Theological Seminary and is thrilled to have the opportunity to intern at Church of the Village this year. Juliana hails from Oregon but has been on the East coast since 2007. She received her BA from Seattle University in 2006, majoring in Theology and Religious Studies and minoring in Global African Studies. Before she moved to New York, she was an active member of Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C, another radically diverse, welcoming, and progressive community. While in DC she lived and worked, at Miriam’s House a community residence facility for formerly homeless women who are HIV+. She is currently discerning the call to ordained ministry in the UMC as an openly gay woman. While she is at COTV she hopes to help the community assess and address how to better minister to those in their midst who deal with mental illness. Additionally, she would love to help build a relationship between COTV and LGBT service and advocacy organizations.

juliana@churchofthevillage.org

Student Minister – Nathan Bledsoe

Nathan Bledsoe is a theology student at Union Seminary, New York.

nathan@churchofthevillage.org

 

 

 

 

Affiliated Ministers

Rev. Dr. Arthur L. Pressley, Associate Professor of Psychology and Religion at the Theological School and Graduate Studies, Drew University, Madison, NJ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev. Dr. Althea Spencer-Miller, Associate Professor, New Testament Studies, at the Theological School and Graduate Studies, Drew University, Madison, NJ.

aspencer@drew.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan Selby