PASTOR HEATHER J. WAKEFIELD

Office Hours:

Tuesday 10AM-12PM

Wednesday 2PM-4PM

Thursday 2PM-4PM

And by appointment.
masque75us@yahoo.com

The only child of two educators, I grew up in small towns in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Southeast Ohio. I earned my BA in English from Clemson University and have an MA in Theater History and Criticism from Ohio University and an MS in Library and Information Studies from Florida State University. I was fortunate to spend almost 10 months in the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia while completing a Fulbright research project on the transition of children’s library services from Soviet to post-Soviet times. I am a firm believer in lifelong learning and love meeting new people.

My spiritual journey has taken a few turns on my way to my current role as a United Methodist pastor. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church but became a “spiritual seeker” during young adulthood. I always believed in God, but I did not always have a good idea of who or what “God” is. When I first moved back to Pennsylvania after my research in Georgia, I attended a Catholic church with my grandma (one of the most spiritual women I have ever known) and aunts and discovered I benefited from this but did not feel like I belonged fully in the Catholic faith. I moved to Saegertown, PA, in the fall of 2011 and soon became the Library Director of the Saegertown Area Public Library. As I became increasingly involved with the local United Methodist Church, I knew that I had found my spiritual home. Methodist theology and its call to service for others resonated with me on a deep level. I had no idea that, a few years later, I would be called to ordination. After just over 7 ½ years, I left my position at the library and moved to Cambridge, MA. There I earned an MDiv at Harvard Divinity School before moving back to Pennsylvania to serve in a cooperative of six churches in 2022.

When I began this journey toward becoming ordained, I believed I would go into extension ministry as a college or university chaplain. I still feel called to this work in some capacity, but I have discovered a passion for working in churches as well. I feel blessed to walk with others on their spiritual paths as I continue my own journey. As someone who resisted being part of any organized religion for a significant part of my life, I hope to help others discover or rediscover the hope and joy that faith, especially faith in community, brings. I pray that everyone can come to know God’s love.