January LEadership Spotlight

 Most of you know me, JoAnne McPherson, but you may not know that I am currently serving the church as the Chairman of the Ad Council. My husband, Dale, and I moved to Leo in 2014 after he retired from the Army.  All my adult life to that point was as a “nomadic” Army wife.  We began attending the church a year or 2 later and then joined around 2018. I was reluctant to join in case something changed or there would be conflict—before if I didn’t like how something was going, I knew we would be moving soon. Not so now in civilian life.  

After becoming a member, I was asked to be on Staff Parish and agreed. I think I attended one or two meetings before Covid stopped everything. At those meetings, I became aware of the situation brewing in the United Methodist Church—about the proposed changes to the doctrine.  Then Covid hit, and before it was over, we had a new pastor. 

Not long after, as many of you know, we all learned about the possibility of disaffiliation. We learned, prayed, discerned, discussed, and voted. And lost. There were dark days while we contemplated leaving or starting a new church, but then something special happened, and so many in the church were not willing to let things stand. We got another vote and this time, we succeeded.  Dale and I laugh now over how I was reluctant to join the church in case things changed!

Since late 2019, I’ve felt that I have had a personal spiritual awakening.  I’ve gone from listening to the sermon each week to hungering for more.  I’ve loved the Bible studies Rhonda has offered, I now do daily devotions, and I listen to Christian content online. We even switched to Christian radio. I’m also observing that many in this church are also there, learning and studying more!  After completing the “Discovering God” study, my prayers are that God will bless this church by showing us where He is working so we can join Him.