Hill Joins Southwestern College Faculty
Simon Hill (M.S.M. ‘17, Master of Music ‘18) joined the of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities and Voice this month. “I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and overflowing with excitement at what the future holds!” he said in a Facebook post.
Luna-Garza Named Bishop Candidate
The Rev. Ella Luna-Garza (M.Div. ‘12) is among the candidates for episcopal discernment from the California-Nevada Annual Conference. The Western Jurisdiction Conference will vote in November for three individuals from throughout the jurisdiction to serve as bishops effective January 2023. Currently, Luna-Garza is serving as pastor of Merced United Methodist Church in Merced, Calif.
Other candidates include Bener Agtarap, Myrna Bernadel-Huey, Elizabeth Brick, Blake Busick, Staci Current, Jorge Domingues, George Edd-Bennett, Renae Extrum-Fernandez, Shinya Goto, Samuel Hong, Theon Johnson, Jeffrey Kuan, Kim Montenegro, David Niu, Matthew Pearson, Kristen Stoneking, Dale Weatherspoon, Ouk-Yean Kim-Jueng.
Christina Cavener to Denison University
Christina Cavener (M.T.S. ’11) moved to Columbus, Ohio to teach as Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Denison University, a private liberal arts college. Over the past six years, she has been a teaching assistant at Texas Women’s University, leading courses in Gender and Social Change; Critical Race Feminism; Womanist Spiritual Activism; and Women and Western Religions. Cavener earned a Ph.D. in 2022 from Texas Woman’s University in Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies.
Lisa Hancock
Recent graduate Lisa Hancock (M.S.M. ’13, M.T.S. ’15, Ph.D. ’21) has been appointed as the new Director of Worship Arts at Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church. She began August 1 and is providing relevant and contextual worship resources in the areas of liturgy, visual arts and hybrid worship. One of 13 international agencies of The United Methodist Church, Discipleship Ministries helps local church, district, and conference leaders fulfill the shared dream of making world-changing disciples by connecting leaders with needed resourcing, training, consulting, and networking that support spiritual formation, new church development, and the revitalization of local churches.