Pastor Joe Monahan
Succasunna is Joe Monahan's second pastoral appointment. Before arriving here in July 2006, he served four years as pastor of Califon UMC in Hunterdon County, NJ. Before that, he was the youth director at Union Village United Methodist Church in Berkeley Heights, NJ.
Joe earned his Master of Divinity in 2003, graduating from Drew University Theological School. His training includes one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education, which he completed at Christ Hospital in Jersey City. He is a full elder in the United Methodist Church and a member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. He serves on the Conference Council on Finance and Administration.
Joe is a native of Pennsylvania (Hollidaysburg). He met his wife Stephanie at Virginia Tech, where they both studied. There, he graduated with a degree in industrial and systems engineering - proof that God guides our steps, even if by some very unlikely roads. During college and after completing his degree, he worked for IBM in Research Triangle Park, NC. It was among the people of the Millbrook United Methodist Church in Raleigh where Joe received his calling to ordained ministry.
Steph and Joe's first child, Zoe, was born in 2005. Their second child Lilly was born in 2008. They also have a hound dog named Ellie. They enjoy their family, travel, hiking, and the outdoors. Joe is an avid guitarist and loves working with computers.
Some of Pastor Joe's interests inside the church include congregational leadership, religious art, worship and liturgy, preaching, and Methodist history.
"To me, the most important mark of Christian living is a spirit of hospitality. We are to reach out and welcome all people with the love of Christ - not just some, but all. That means going out of our way to help, to care, to listen. In our wedding liturgy, the pastor closes by saying to the congregation: 'Bear witness to the love of God in this world, so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you generous friends.' To me, that sums up what Christian living is all about. I take that charge very seriously, and I want the church to take it seriously too. If we can get that right, people will be falling all over themselves to experience the love of God we know in the person and the gospel of Jesus Christ."