Who We Are

Since this is a collaborative blog, keeping track of who is who and who is doing what can get a little confusing. So here's a little bit about each of our contributors (updated as of March 2011):


Kate Mackereth is our fearless leader, founder and blog administrator.  She is originally from Frederick, Maryland and is currently living in Washington, DC while attending Wesley Theological Seminary.  Kate is a certified candidate for elder's orders in the UMC and will undergo her provisional ordination exams early next year (yikes!).  She currently serves Mt. Zion United Methodist Church of Highland, MD as their Director of Youth Ministries and pastoral intern.  Kate serves the Wesley Seminary community as president of Wesley Fellowship, and recently accepted an invitation to serve on a conference-wide board working to promote concepts of call and vocation throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference.  Kate is also a gifted singer and musician.  You can follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/tattooedpastor


Amanda Jean is a current Masters of Arts student at Wesley Theological Seminary, and will marry her future husband, Andrew, this May. She grew up in a small town in Western Massachusetts and moved to Washington, D.C. to attend seminary two years ago. For almost four years prior to coming to seminary, Amanda worked at her local church in Massachusetts as a volunteer Youth Director. Although her church was small, she had a solid 8 member junior high youth group.  Amanda hopes to use her seminary degree to assist churches in developing and improving their Christian Education programs, and also enjoys writing curriculum for youth and children's classes.  In her spare time, Amanda enjoys cooking a wide variety of foods, and is also planning her upcoming wedding!


Beth Ludlum is Director of Recruitment at Wesley Theological Seminary and a 5th-year Master of Divinity student. A Kansas farm girl at heart, Beth has fallen in love with the city and has done extensive vocational exploration by working in coffeeshops, on Capitol Hill, for a national nonprofit, as a home healthcare provider, and as a teacher in China before landing in the blessed realm of seminary admissions. For her day job, she loves listening to people’s stories and participating in the discernment process with prospective students; in her free time, she runs, reads, studies, and travels extensively. When she’s not on the road or dogsitting/housesitting/babysitting somewhere in the city, she lives in a wonderful community house with three roommates, a dog, lots of laughter, and a steady flow of houseguests. While she tried for some time to be Mennonite, she has returned to the fold of Methodism at Mt. Vernon Place UMC in the heart of DC and is now on the path toward ordination.


Bonnie McCubbin is a native of Harford County, Maryland and very proud to be serving a student appointment in her native area at the Deer Creek Charge as the youngest pastor in her conference. She is a life-long United Methodist and seeking ordination as an elder. Bonnie is also a student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. She is passionate about retreat and camping ministries; the arts in worship; bringing together faith and the environment; and connecting local churches with Methodist history.



Cody Natland grew up attending Selah United Methodist Church in Selah, Washington and after spending his first year of divinity studies at Boston University, transferred to Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY in 2010. He plans to return to the Pacific Northwest after finishing seminary and plans to be an elder in the United Methodist Church. Cody is especially passionate about camping ministry, campus ministry, and ministry with young adults. He is hopeful and excited about changes that he believes he will see in the church during his lifetime and leadership. While his time is usually spent reading textbooks and spending time with his new bride Crystal, he also enjoys reading, movies, and snowshoeing. Cody is excited about where the mysterious process of answering God’s call will take him during this crazy journey.


Joey Heath - "I am the product of a traditional southern household having spent most of my growing up years living in south Georgia. In addition to being southern I am also an army brat meaning my dad served in the army for the first 10 years of my life. I am also a graduate of Valdosta State University with a degree in political science. In May 2008 I attended the United Methodist General Conference and it was there I recieved my calling to go to seminary. I accepted this calling and I am currently a seminary student at Wesley Theological Seminary. I believe God has called to be a prophetic voice on issues of LGBTQ equality in the church. All are beloved created children of God and should be accept as such. The diversity of God's creation is beautiful and includes our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. My committment is to see that LGBTQ people are fully included in the church and that they know that God loves them and created them."


John Lucy is a youngin Master of Divinity student as Wesley Theological Seminary, who loves jokes (especially Mitch Hedberg and Steven Wright) and prefers to explain the awkward existence of giraffes by arguing they arrived from Neptune on a conveyor belt.  Mr. Lucy finds much of his spiritual inspiration from literature, particularly Dylan Thomas and J.R.R. Tolkien.  He loves to think of himself as the next Oscar Wilde and likes to think that he brings fresh and challenging, yet mostly traditional, ideas to the table.  Currently he spends his free-time walking, training for the Appalachian Trail, and doing his best to be famous via authoring.


Matt Burke grew up in Christ United Methodist Church of Frederick, MD and graduated from Grove City College with a degree in Christian Thought and a minor in Christian Ministries. Once he completes seminary at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC, he is looking to be ordained in a Reformed denomination (probably Presbyterian Church of America or ARP).  


Steve Humphrey is our newest (and oldest...happy 41st birthday!) blog contributor.  He is an ordained elder of the UMC and was recently reappointed from Walkersville UMC in Walkersville to Union Chapel UMC in Joppa, MD.  Steve is married to a wonderful woman named Rebecca and has four children.  Steve also serves his conference as a member of his local District Committee on Ordained Ministry and as a candidacy mentor (Kate's candidacy mentor, in fact - for which the rest of our blog community extends its condolences).  He is currently working on his first book.