Pastor Steve and his wife, Jenni, grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana, where they met and married. They will be celebrating their 42 wedding anniversary this August. They have a granddaughter, Rilee, who just turned 15. Pastor Steve has served United Methodist Churches for over 39 years and is excited about ministry at Cicero United Methodist Church. Jenni works for the Indiana Foundation of the United Methodist Church in Fishers, Indiana. She is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University. She is of deep faith and looks forward to getting to know the people of our church and finding her unique place of ministry. Steve has been a pastor since 1984 and was ordained an Elder in the South Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1990. He has an undergraduate in Physics and has been a physics instructor at Olivet Nazarene University, Ivy Tech, and Indiana University East. With two master’s degrees in Religion and Divinity, Steve is driven to apply the Christian faith in meaningful and helpful ways. He loves the unique ministry of Lead Pastor and looks forward to participating in and leading ministry at Cicero United Methodist Church. Asked about what excites him in ministry, he replied, “When I see a person discover their gifts and calling and express that in ministry. When a light comes on, and a person discovers the joy of serving others, fulfilling their call, and living in a grace relationship with God, that’s a blessing. I get excited when I see someone discover that dynamic.” Steve is a bicyclist, motorcyclist, backpacker, and golfer. He has completed the RAIN (Ride Across Indiana) bicycle ride thrice. He has ridden the Hilly Hundred five times. He has done thousands of miles of bicycle touring and has recently picked up the additional facet of motorcycle adventure touring. He has hiked over 1800 miles on the Appalachian Trail and a small portion of the Continental Divide Trail. He began golfing about nine years ago and enjoys ruining a good walk (can you identify that partial quote?). Steve and Jenni are blessed with having Jenni’s parents, Jerry and Frances, living nearby at Wesley Manor. Jerry and Frances are both retired school teachers. Jerry is a Navy man, having served in the Pacific theater during WWII.