As Associate Pastor of Ingomar Church, Pastor Cyndi provides vision, teaching, and leadership, overseeing Missions, Small Group Ministries, Welcome Ministries, Wellness, Communications, and Servant Ministry. Along with Pastor Greg, she works to accomplish the mission and vision of Ingomar Church.
What she wants you to know about Jesus: I want people to know that Jesus always has his arms open to you. There is literally NOTHING you can do to make him turn his back on you!
Favorite Scripture: My favorite scripture is Isaiah 58 because it shows God’s preference for the poor and marginalized. There is something in that chapter that challenges each of us in our practice of faith.
My call: My dad was a preacher in the Church of the Brethren denomination. I said I would never marry a preacher or be a preacher due to dislike of moving and also living in something like a goldfish bowl with people watching all the time.
My first call to ministry at age 8 came after two key events. First, my parents took us to the Tom Skinner Crusades every night for a week. Through his messages, I understood for the first time that Jesus loved ME.
The second event was when a missionary couple came to our church to talk about their long-term mission. I knew in my heart I was called to do this for Jesus. The Church of the Brethren practices believer baptism, usually around the same time that the UMC does Confirmation. However, my call was so strong that I insisted on baptism that year at the age of 8.
Over my childhood, teen and young adult years, my passion began to wane. I exercised my call through the profession of Speech-Language Pathologist for 10 years before answering the renewed call to ministry in 2001 in Monroeville UMC. My pastor told me he believed I had a call to ministry (and I cried because I didn’t want to have to move). I began study at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary the week before 9/11. I told everyone that I wouldn’t preach or serve a church. A few months later, when I qualified for a pastoral license, my home church asked if I would agree to be appointed as their Associate Pastor. I said no. With three young daughters and full-time seminary, I could not handle a full-time job. About a month later, they approached me again because they had restructured the job to be part-time. I felt God had answered my prayer about serving without having to move, so I agreed to answer the call and I was appointed there. That was 19 years ago and I continue to be amazed at God’s knowledge of what would make our hearts sing.
Make your faith larger than your fears and your dreams bigger than your doubts.
Robin Sharma
There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear.
1 John 4:18