Meet our staff

David became St. Paul’s senior pastor July 1, 2010. He graduated from Baker University in 1995 with a BA in Political Science and Philosophy, and from Saint Paul School of Theology in 2000 with a M.Div.

His professional experience in the church started in 1994 as a youth director while finishing college. He served as a youth director (1994-1996), as Conference Youth Worker for the Kansas East Conference (96-98), Associate Pastor at Old Mission UMC responsible for youth, young adults, and starting a Saturday Evening Contemporary worship service (98-2001), Pastor of Camp Creek and Lancaster UMCs (2001-2003), Associate Pastor at First UMC, Lawrence where he was responsible for planning a second campus, assisted in a Capital Campaign, and began an off-site worship service in preparation for a move to the second campus (2003-2006), and as pastor at Burlington UMC (2006-2010).

David and his wife Tracy have two children, Sophia and Abby.

Sandra came to St. Paul’s in 2007. She has served as Director of Children’s Ministries at both Aldersgate UMC (1991-1993) and Lenexa UMC (1993-1995). She served as Associate Pastor of Country Club UMC (1995-1997) and Trinity UMC (1997-1998). Sandra became Senior Associate Pastor at Grace UMC (1998-2003) where she was responsible for all of Christian Education ministries and pastoral care. In 2003 she became the pastor of Roeland Park UMC where she served until she came to St. Paul’s.

Sandra received her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. in the fields of History and Art/Archaeology. She has a Master’s of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri and is an elder in the Great Plains Annual Conference. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at St. Paul School of Theology, where she has taught courses in Christian Education, Biblical Studies and Preaching. She has served as both a PLUM (Preparing for Local Ministry) and ELM (Entering Local Ministry) leader during the school year. Sandra enjoys working with students to help them fulfill their call into ministry.

Sandra is the Pastor of Faith Formation and oversees all areas of Christian Education and Spiritual Formation including Sunday School for all ages, Confirmation Class, Bible studies, Small Groups and Adult Missions.

Sandra is married to Mark who is the Executive Director of the Midwest Hemophilia Association. They live in Olathe, Kansas and together they have four children (Ryan, Erin, Beth, and Charlie), one daughter-in-law (Megan), one son-in-law (Jeisun) and one granddaughter (Isabella)!

Mike Marcus is currently a student at St. Paul School of Theology. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 2015 with a B.A. in Religious Studies. 

Mike has previously served at New Church Lawrence as an Executive Pastor from 2015-2016. He is currently leading the Presence ministry within St. Paul’s that is focused on community-centered, experiential worship. Mike’s focus in ministry is building community through worship and dialogue, outside the walls of the church. While at St. Paul School of Theology, he is focusing on studying how current ministry models are meeting the needs of individuals through these developing church models. 

Mike is married to Allison Marcus, the Youth Director at St. Paul’s. 

Ronelle holds a Bachelors of Social Work degree from Avila College and a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She brings a harvest of professional knowledge and experience in working with people, organizations and community for more than 30 years. She has a particular passion for helping people discover their potential and matching that potential with life-fulfilling purpose and meaning.

She enjoys spending time with her blended family, gardening, landscaping, and home improvement projects, and can be seen working around St. Paul’s gardens when not wearing her ConneXions hat!

Allison feels a calling to a youth ministry career and building relationships with youth while helping them develop their faith lives. She continues to be amazed by the power of church community as she grows in her faith with those around her.

Allison is in Seminary school at Saint Paul Seminary, working toward an ordination as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church.

Before joining the staff at St. Paul’s, after spending 16 years as a stay-at-home mom (and countless hours as a church volunteer!), Dia worked as the Director of Children’s Ministries in Hutchinson, KS. Working in children’s ministries is her passion, and she considers it an honor and a privilege to help children and families grow their faith.

In her spare time Dia likes to spend time with family and friends, travel, read, cook, walk her dog, go to movies, and try new things.

She is active in United Methodist Women, having served as local president and various other offices, and also as District President of the Kansas City District and other district offices.

Doris’s background is in education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English, and a master’s degree in psychology, with an emphasis in special education.

Doris and her husband, Dave, live in Shawnee. They enjoy spending time with their daughter Deanna, son-in-law Ryan, and grandson Ira.

Cheryl has a Business Degree from Kansas State University and Not-for-profit Management certification from Rockhurst University.

She and her husband, Randy, have lived in Lenexa since 1990, raising their two children, Steven and Andrew.

Pat, or “Miss Pat” as she is lovingly known by hundreds of children and their families, has been a teacher in Early Childhood Education for many years, coming to our program in 2007 as PK teacher. She assumed Lead Teacher responsibilities under Director Lori Bjorklun, allowing her to share her insightful approaches to classroom management with her colleagues. A graduate of Johnson County Community College’s Early Childhood program, Pat is well versed in many approaches to Early Childhood Education, including High Scope, Montessori, and Waldorf method.

Pat lives with her husband, Steve, in Overland Park. They have three children and three grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, gardening, and being out in nature.

Janice has a BA in English from UMKC. Her professional experience includes technical writing, marketing communications, and web development. She enjoys the challenge of combining creativity and technology to help establish and nurture connections between people.

She lives in Midtown KCMO with her husband, Gary. They have two grown kids and three granddaughters. In addition to enjoying time with family and friends, Janice likes practicing yoga, knitting, watching movies, and going for nature walks.

Upon graduation, Jackson moved to the Kansas City area and has been performing, teaching, and directing choirs of all ages ever since. He has held positions with the Park Hill School District and Kansas City Public Schools, taught private voice and piano to a studio of 25, sang in AGO Schola Cantorum, and was a section leader and soloist at St. John’s UMC on Ward Parkway. His most recent venture was creating and directing a new choral ensemble in Kansas City named the KC VITAs Chamber Choir. The choir focuses on the performance of “contemporary classical” music with the mission of giving young or rising composers a chance for their music to be heard. The ensemble will begin their second season next summer.

In addition to duties at St. Paul’s, Jackson is pursuing his Master of Music in Choral Conducting at the University of Kansas as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. He lives in Midtown and enjoys hiking, cooking, and improvising music on the piano in his spare time.

Jeremy is an amazing musician who brings his whole heart and soul to his music. In addition to his outstanding abilities on the piano, his vocals are top notch. His music has enhanced worship at St. Paul’s for many years and will continue to be a vital part of how we bring our best to God in worship.

Jeremy is well known throughout the KC area for his outstanding talent on the keyboards. When he is not at church, you will most likely find him in the cast or as music director for a local theatre show.