Reverend Katie O’Hern, Pastor

Rev. Katie O’Hern joined the John Wesley community as pastor in July 2017. Prior to her appointment at JWUMC, Katie served as Minister for Discipleship & Mission at Asbury First United Methodist Church in Rochester, New York. Before that, she served as Administrative Pastor at Kingston United Methodist Church in Kingston, New Jersey. Her ministry with both of these congregations included connecting young adults to one another and to the church community. At Asbury First, Katie helped to plan and lead a pilgrimage for young adults to the monastic community of Taizé, in rural France. The group of young adults participated in contemplative prayers alongside thousands of young people from all around the world – a truly remarkable experience of worship. At Kingston, Katie was an enthusiastic supporter of an innovative food truck ministry: The Feed Truck provides good food, volunteer opportunities, and a point of connection between the congregation and the community.

Katie received her Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian Education from Princeton Theological Seminary, where she was the recipient of the Raymond Irving Lindquist Fellowship for the Parish Ministry. She holds a BS in Elementary & Special Education from SUNY Geneseo, and is originally from Ellicott City, Maryland.

Katie enjoys cooking, spending time outdoors, running half marathons, and hanging out with her dog (a goldendoodle named Monday). Her favorite part of Sunday morning worship is singing hymns (it’s the part of the service where literally every voice counts!) and she loves spending time in Bible study and conversation with diverse groups of people. Her favorite scripture verse is from Ecclesiastes: “I know whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before God” (Ecc. 3:14).