Christopher Wurpts
|
Christopher was appointed as a commissioned elder to NSUMC by Bishop Grant J. Hagiya of the Desert Southwest Conference of The United Methodist Church in July 2022. Christopher was formerly the youth director at PVUMC for five years before being appointed as an Associate Pastor in 2018. He was awarded a B.A. in Religion and Visual Art from Northwestern College in Orange City, IA and earned a certificate in youth and theology from Princeton Theological Seminary’s Institute for Youth Ministry. He is currently attending Claremont School of Theology, pursuing his Masters of Divinity degree. In 2022, Christopher was invited to be a speaker at the UMC LEAD leadership conference. He has over fifteen years of ministry experience. Christopher lives in central Phoenix with his wife, Ingrid, and their daughter.
|
Leah Bergstrom
|
Pastor Leah Bergstrom is a retired elder from the Western Pennsylvania Conference. She served St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Allison Park, a large suburban congregation in the north hills of Pittsburgh, for 32 years. Prior to that she taught English and Communication Arts at Shaler Area Junior High where she met her husband Bob who was also a teacher at the same school.
Before moving to Arizona, Leah assisted with new United Methodist church starts in Central Florida. She and Bob also worked with Shepherd’s Hope, a free medical center for persons who had no insurance coverage. Leah and Bob are the parents of six children, four of whom were adopted. They presently have twelve grandchildren. There are children, spouses and grandchildren all over the United States to visit and to host in their home.
|
