People

Senior Pastor | Other Pastoral Staff
Lay Delegate | Board of Directors

Senior Pastor - Rev. Terri Miller

Rev. Terri Miller, the founding pastor of Valley Ministries, MCC, became a licensed minister with UFMCC in 1996. She served on the ministerial staff of River City, MCC in Sacramento, CA from 1995 - 1999. She then followed the call that God had placed on her life to begin a new work in Stockton, CA. Rev. Terri is a dedicated and faithful leader who demonstrates the love of God to those whom she meets, on a daily basis.

Rev. Terri believed she was called to minister at a very young age, but struggled with a conflict between her spirituality and her sexuality. She found herself in spiritual turmoil, believing she was truly called by God, but also believing the lies told in the name of God, that you can't be "gay" and be a Christian, or even that God couldn't possibly love you if you were a homosexual. The hopelessness in her life led to a downward spiral of alcohol and drug dependencies.

Her life was changed forever when a friend took her to visit River City MCC in Sacramento, CA. Here she realized that God's love is unconditional... that the same God who called her by name as a little girl was still calling her name. "It felt like the first hug from an old friend, when you've been away for a long time. I knew I had come home," said Rev. Terri of her newfound love and acceptance.

Free to be who God made her, Rev. Terri began to pursue the path that she had put on the shelf so long ago. In 1997 she met her life time love and partner, Marilyn Sweigart, and they entered into a Holy Union together on October 2, 1998.

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Other Pastoral Staff

Minister of Music and CARE Groups - Sharon Henry

Sharon Henry studied at Bethany Bible College, pursuing a minister's liscense with the Assembly of God church. She was a youth pastor in an Assembly of God church in Sacramento, CA for several years before she came out as a lesbian woman.

Sharon has a passion for worship and will often be seen rocking out with her guitar as she praises. She also has a heart to see the church heal wounds, not create them. She has most recently accepted the responsibility of Valley Ministries' small group ministry, CARE Groups, knowing God's most powerful transforming work is done through the loving, caring and sharing of the body of Christ.

Sharon is the mother of two boys, Caleb and Clay, and she married her best friend, Christine, in October of 2003. Christine also plays bass in Sound Alive, Valley Ministries' praise team.

Most recently Sharon has accepted the position as the Valley Bay Area Cluster team lead and is enjoying the opportunity to get to know other churches in the area.

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Lay Delegate

Pam Osborne

Pam Osborne retired from the Alameda County Library System and currently lives in Brentwood CA. Her partner and she have been together for 33 years and she is a proud mother and grandmother. Prior to coming to Brentwood she had previously been an active member of Centerville Presbyterian Church, a large church in Fremont CA. Pam found Valley Ministries on the internet and has been a member for 31/2 years. Although a much smaller church than the 1200 member church she left, she feels Valley Ministries does more good in our community than many churches much larger. she currently teaches Sunday School and is a member of Valley Ministries’ Mission Team.

As the Lay Delegate Pam’s job is to be able to communicate issues and/or concerns to and from the congregation and the corporate denomination, United Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), on all matters pertinent to the denomination. She does this through attendance at Regional Conferences, Cluster Meetings and General Conferences. Her goal is to always conduct the lay business of the church professionally, effectively and with God's guidance.

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Board of Directors

Stewardship Coordinator - Nancy Baca

Nancy Baca is Valley Ministries Stewardship Coordinator in charge of establishing procedures/programs to build and increase tithes and offerings to keep the church financially sound.

Nancy’s work background is in library operations/administration for over 33 years until she retired in 2001. Her religious involvement was with the Presbyterian and Catholic churches. However their anti-gay teaching finally pushed her away after her children were grown and she no longer felt responsible to have a religious environment for them.

Pam Osborne, Valley Ministres' Lay Delegate has been Nancy’s partner for over 33 years. They have 2 wonderful daughters and 2 fantastic grandchildren. They love to travel and manage to accomplish this fairly often. Nancy has always known that her and Pam’s love for each other is blessed and that churches they attended were run by humans with mistakes – not accepting their love for each other. Stumbling into Valley Ministries MCC Church with its inclusivity and love for all God’s creations has been a Blessing. She wishes she had found MCC churches 34 years ago when their girls were young!

Nancy believes that there are many LGBTQI individuals and families that need and want to “stumble” into an MCC church. She believe that God expects her to help spread the word of God’s inclusive love, that there is an accepting church family to join and therefore she must work at keeping Valley Ministries a church alive – seen in the community with relevant programs so those that need to feel God’s love can “stumble” through the many doors we present to the community. To do this effectively those in the church must give of our Time, Talent and Tithe. She is honored to oversee Valley Ministries’ pledge program so that the church can reach those that need to know that God Loves Them.

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Facility Manager - Leslie Vaughn

Leslie Vaughn started attending Valley Ministries in 2002. Although she was raise in a Christian home she had never found another church to be as welcoming or comfortable.

Leslie first served one term on the Valley Ministries board beginning in May of 2006, and is proud to now be serving her second consecutive term as Facility Manager. She loves doing God’s work not only for her church but also for her community. She is involved with Valley Ministries’ weekly homeless food program and in the past led one of the Stockton Care Groups.

As a member of the BOD, Leslie looks forward to working diligently to continue growing Valley Ministries in numbers and in faith. She knows that this church was planted in this place and time because of God’s belief in and love for our community.

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Financial Administrator - Annette Novotny

 

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Fundraising Coordinator - Thelma Carver

Thelma Carver came to Valley Ministries in 2008. In that same year she was baptized, became a member, and began participating in Valley Ministries by serving on the security team and the Welcoming Community. She is always open to helping the church where help is needed.

Thelma feels blessed to know that she does not have to be condemned by her church for being who she is but is loved by God and her church for who she is. She wants to share her love and blessings from Christ with others. Thelma was married on Aug. 29 2009 to Dena, a very wonderful loving women who graces the Valley Ministries praise team with her beautiful singing voice. The blessings of marriage didn't stop with Dena, she was also blessed to marry into a family with twin daughters, Ashley and Amanda (also a part of the praise team). She has a son and a granddaughter who she loves very much.

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