Jeff Huber
Senior Pastor
Rev. Jeff Huber has been Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Durango since July of 2002. He holds a Masters in Divinity degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Pastor Jeff has also attended the Beeson Institute through Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He was ordained in the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1993 and served Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation in Ames, Iowa; Smoky Hill United Methodist Church in Centennial, Colorado; Calvary United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Wheat Ridge United Methodist Church in Wheat Ridge, Colorado before coming to FUMC in Durango.
While most of Pastor Jeffs family is from the Denver area, he spent much of his younger years in parts of California and Oregon. He graduated from Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California where he was also active in the youth group at Lafayette United Methodist Church. It was in that church that Jeff had his first preaching experience. The people of Lafayette UMC encouraged him to pursue ordained ministry and while he fought it for a while, God finally got a hold of him when he was active at the Wesley Foundation campus ministry while at CU Boulder.
Pastor Jeff’s passion is leading God’s church and God’s people towards a deeper faith that is relevant in today’s world. His hope and prayer is that we at First United Methodist Church in Durango will pursue God with our whole heart and strive to be Jesus Christ to the world.
Jeff and his wife Tami have two children, Thomas and Vika.
Karen Wallace
Pastor of Caring Ministries
Karen Wallace has served as Pastor of Caring Ministries since July 1st, 2016. She completed a Master’s level Certificate of Theology in December, 2016 from St. Norbert’s College, at the Albuquerque branch, Norbertine.
Prior to that she was working as a Chaplain in New Mexico for 3 years, following completion of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) from Presbyterian in Albuquerque. Karen worked as a Mental Health Counselor for 23 years in the Durango area, and has a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Adam’s State College. She attended Ft. Lewis College for undergraduate schooling.
Karen’s greatest pride is her 2 grown sons, Jamin and Hudson, who were both born and raised in Durango.
Karen loves to spend time with family and friends, and enjoys hiking, swimming, dancing, cooking, reading, traveling and different cultures. She has a passion for the poor and developing countries.
Karen is a Colorado native, and grew up in Boulder, and considers Durango home!
Morgan Holick
Youth Pastor
Morgan Holick joined us June 1st, 2019 as our new Youth Pastor! Morgan is originally from Wichita, Kansas. There she attended Friends University where she played volleyball and earned her bachelors of arts in history and political science. She then moved to Princeton, New Jersey where she earned her Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in youth ministry. Morgan loves sunny mornings, mocha lattes, prosciutto, Jesus, cats, youth ministry, and everything that merits a good laugh. She also has a mini golden doodle named Jax who is the best boy in the whole world.
Aaron Strietzel
Three Springs Campus Pastor
Jake Forsythe
Ministry Program Director
Jake Forsythe has served as the Ministry Program Director at FUMC since 2012. Prior to that he served as the Youth Director for 5 years. Jake felt a calling into ministry after completing a 2-year online Bible College program through Liberty University.
Jake enjoys working closely with the staff and various lead teams here at the church as we build community, change lives, and bring hope to our community as a local church. He was born and raised in Durango and currently lives in Bayfield with his wife Carrie, their son Noah, and soon to be adopted daughter Sutton. Jake is a die-hard Denver Broncos fan and he loves playing and watching sports, camping, fishing, and spending time with his family.
Robb Bourdon
Director of Administration
Robb has been a member of FUMC Durango since 1992 and on staff since 2006. He grew up in Michigan as a diehard Notre Dame fan which he remains to this day. He and his wife, Amy, have three children: Chloe who just graduated from Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction; Jacob who is a junior at Colorado State University in Fort Collins; and Zane who is a sophomore in high school. Robb loves most sports, but especially football, baseball, and golf. He has been on several mission trips including New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Greensburg, KS, after a tornado hit the town, and Kenya to work with orphanages and widows. Finally, he likes to travel and has been to five of the seven continents as well as close to 40 of the 50 states.
Ely Cartwright
Director of Worship
Ely Cartwright joined the staff of FUMC in the fall of 2015 as the Director of Worship, which involves leading our contemporary praise band, overseeing our traditional worship, occasional preaching, and some organizational leadership responsibilities. He completed a bachelor’s in Music at Asbury University and a Master of Divinity at Asbury Theological Seminary, both in Wilmore, Kentucky. Having been involved in worship ministry since his middle school youth group days, Ely also spent several years serving the local church in Lexington, Kentucky before he and his wife, Lauren, came to join FUMC in Durango. More recently, Ely has also completed the 10,000 Fathers Worship School program and independently released a record of original worship songs, “There Is Hope”. Ely is passionate about seeing individuals and communities connected and formed through times of gathered worship, as we respond to who God is and what God has done.
Ely and Lauren enjoy exploring the local food and music scene as well as the vast wilderness surrounding Durango, but they also really enjoy watching movies on the couch at home with their cat, Seamus, and dog, Ziva, piled on top of them.
Celia Rothhaas
Director of Children and Family Ministries
Celia Rothhaas grew up in Toledo, OH and is the second oldest of five girls. Surrounded by love in a happy home, she understood the importance of education with a solid foundation being the family. She went on to attend Hillsdale College where she pursued Speech/Communication with a minor in Early Childhood Education. She has always found delight in working with children; their joy in everyday tasks, enthusiasm for the unknown, and faith without bounds inspires her daily. “I learn more from them, than they ever do from me!”
Celia has recently begun digging into the world of plants (literally!). While her plants don’t always respond to her love and affection, it’s fun learning new things!
She moved to Durango in May 2017, began working in the church office in November 2017 and has been the Director of Children & Family Ministries since July 1, 2018.
Stacey Franco
Director of Communications
Stacey moved from New Jersey to Durango in June 2017. She works as the church’s communications coordinator, creating all things video and graphics. She graduated from the University of Valley Forge as a video production major.
In her spare time she loves to go see new movies, or stay home and watch old movies, or talk about movies…you get it. She also loves cooking. Italian dishes are her favorite to make. The more complicated a recipe is, the more fun it is. When she’s home, she enjoys the company of her two cats. She loves driving, road trips, and traveling. The only thing Durango is missing is a beach.
Alan Hensley
College and Young Adult Director and Residency Director
Alan is the College and Young Adult Director and Residency Director. He grew up in Alamosa, Colorado and graduated with a degree in Elementary and Special Education from Adams State University. He is passionate about developing leaders, teaching the Word to students, and talking theology. He also loves all things sports, spear fishing, and tacos.
Kristin Hensley
Connections Director
Kristin is the Hospitality Director and Young Adult Ministry Assistant. She grew up in Colorado Springs and obtained her degree in Communication from UCCS. She loves meeting up with students, helping plan events, and just generally getting to know people. Anywhere there’s board games or ice cream, Kristin is sure to be there! She and Alan also have their dog named Koda, who they love more than anything.
Linda Heaton
Front Office
Linda works at the front desk of the church office on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Her job varies day to day… well actually minute to minute! Her job is about people; she assists the congregation, the staff, the worship team and the community. She loves this job; it’s a perfect fit!
Linda taught school for 20 years before retiring, moving from Vermont to Colorado. One passion in her life these days is supporting her husband Russ and the local community of those dealing with Parkinson’s Disease. This passion has reinforced our reality – the hand of God reaching out to touch us all, encouraging us to focus on gratitude and blessings.
Jeanette Johansen
Early Learning Center Director
Lori Brouner
Thrift Shop Director
Lori and her family moved to Durango in 1994 from the San Diego area to be closer to her parents. As a child she made several trips to Durango as it was the hometown of her father and his family. She had the fairytale dream to live in the mountains someday. Lori began working at the Methodist Thrift Shop in 1995 as part time janitor and dock worker. These were additional jobs for her at the time to make ends meet and to try to fulfill her fairytale dream. After starting at the thrift shop there was turmoil with management. She was soon offered the manager position in 1996 and has been there ever since. Lori soon realized that her job had many facets to it, managing store operations, volunteers and staff. Soon the thrift shop had a turnaround in sales and volunteerism. The thrift shop was growing rapidly and sales were increasing every year. The thrift shop has been voted by locals as one of the best thrift/consignment shops in Durango for several years. The thrift shop was now in a position to start giving back to our generous community as well as supporting the church. Lori has led the thrift shop to have over 90 volunteers regularly. She quickly saw that volunteering is what makes the Methodist Thrift Shop special and successful. She would fit volunteering around the person’s interests as well as the needs of the shop. It has always been said that the best deals are found in the back of the thrift shop. That turned out to be true when Lori met her future husband Doug when he signed up to volunteer. They married soon after in 2005 and they have 4 adult children and 3 grandchildren together. Family is very important to her. Lori is finally living out her fairytale dream by living in the Enchanted Forest with Doug in their custom-built log home.
CJ White
Facilities Manager
CJ White has served as the Facilities Manager of the church since April 2010. She is responsible for maintaining all areas of the church property including the building and grounds.