Santa Cruz Valley United Methodist Church

Reverend Meredith was born in the Bible Belt of the east Texas Piney Woods. She comes from five generations of Methodists and credits her paternal grandmother for the example that our Methodist faith is lived through more than attending church on Sundays.

She and her husband, Stephane, have been married for 22 years and have four kids – Emi (21), Gus (18), Tess (16), and Molly (13) - three dogs, and 22 chickens. She is a trail runner, and her love language is baking. She wakes up really, really early, loves a good bowl of chips and salsa, and still holds onto her childhood dream of being in a folk band. She moved with her family to Tucson from Texas in 2007.

She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Her dissertation research is on pastoral care. She has earned a Master of Divinity with a concentration in congregational practices at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, a Master of Science in Psychology with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy, and B.S. in Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to receiving an unexpected call to ordained ministry during General Conference 2019, she worked as a therapist while preparing to take the national exam as a Marriage and Family therapist and spent 14 years in secondary education as adjunct faculty teaching college Psychology courses.

She is passionate about helping congregations find ways to connect to the community and serve outside the church. She loves to help mobilize people, help engage their talents and gifts into tangible acts of service, and take all of the great things about our church and our faith into our community as a resource and source of hope. Her calling is to pastoral care and specialized ministry and advocacy to all families, but especially to those that are unhoused, refugee/asylum seekers, LGBTQIA+, and those touched by mental illness.