Rev. Adam Sparks
Senior Pastor
asparks@stmumc.org
Adam Sparks is a native of Salyersville in Eastern Kentucky. He and his wife of 12 years, Melanie, met at the Wesley Foundation at Morehead State University, where they both graduated. Adam has a B.S. in Psychology from Morehead State (2005) and an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary (2009). Melanie is currently the choir director at Bullitt Central High School. Adam and Melanie have two sons, Noah and John, and a Labrador Retriever named Lola. Adam has served congregations at Bethel/Mt. Pleasant, Owingsville, Sunshine in South Shore, and College Heights in Elizabethtown. He enjoys cycling, hiking, cooking, University of Kentucky basketball, listening to NPR, and going on adventures as a family
Rev. Renee Jennings
Associate Pastor
rjennings@stmumc.org
Renee grew up in Louisville, graduated from Seneca High School, IUS, and Louisville Seminary. Prior to coming to SMUMC as our River City campus Pastor, she served as Associate Pastor at Highland United Methodist Church in Ft. Thomas, and most recently as the campus minister at Northern Kentucky University. Along with husband Patrick their family includes Aago the parrot, Oreo the corn snake, and twin lionhead bunnies, Ralph and Felix!
Renee enjoys knitting, crochet, cross stitch, and quilting - as well as baking. She professes to be wildly competitive at Mario Kart and almost all board games, and she and Patrick are fluent in Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel; plus she speaks Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter!
Rev. Maikel Rojas
Assistant Pastor
mrojas@stmumc.org
Maikel has been apart of the St. Matthews UMC community since September, 2016, when his current church plant began meeting here on Sunday evenings. Maikel, his wife Lily, and 2 sons Jonathan & Jordan, come to us from Cuba. Maikel graduated from the University of Ciego de Avila in Cuba and began his pastoral career in 2004. For six years he served as senior pastor and established three new churches in nearby cities. In 2010 Maikel and his family moved to Florida where he worked as an assistant Pastor before moving to Kentucky in 2012. Here he worked as a Hispanic Church Planter for the Kentucky conference, launching four churches that are in a process of wonderful growth and multiplication.
Harrison Zoercher
Director of Discipleship & Missions
hzoercher@stmumc.org
Harrison began his ministry at St. Matthews as organist in 1996. Following a lengthy career in the telecommunications industry, he became Communications Coordinator for the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2002, and the Director of Communications and Emerging Ministries for SMUMC in 2004. Harrison has served on the United Methodist General Conference and Southeast Jurisdicational Conference Communications Teams, Kentucky Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, the Executive Committee of the Louisville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Board of Directors of Loucon Training & Retreat Center, Wesley House, the Louisville Chrysalis Community, and St. Matthews Area Ministries.
Shannon Seidt
Director of Children's Ministries
sseidt@stmumc.org
Shannon is a lifelong Louisvillian. She received her Bachelor’s from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, where she triple-majored in Religion, French and Philosophy. She received her MBA at Bellarmine University and has done additional post-graduate work at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Bellarmine. Throughout her life, Shannon has felt God’s call into ordained ministry, and has followed God’s leading into inner-city, prison, and youth and children’s ministries. Now at St. Matthews, God has led her to serve the children of the church and community and their families. She and her husband, Chris, have two wonderful children, Mason and Caleigh. On the side, Shannon loves clowning, foreign language study, singing, and spending time with the family in the great outdoors.
Aaron Weaver
Director of Music Ministries
Aaron Weaver received his Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Kentucky, as well as his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education. He taught as a high school choir director in Jefferson County Public Schools (Waggener H.S. & Pleasure Ridge Park H.S.) for 12 years, and is currently the Explore Program Administrator at Crosby Middle School.
Aaron has extensive church music experience, having served a number of church communities in various musical and leadership capacities. For the past nine years Aaron has served as a member of the music ministry team at St. Matthews United Methodist Church, directing the youth choir and the youth handbell ensembles.
Aaron and his wife Meghan are the parents to two children - Keely (age 2) & Keegan (age 1) - and are expecting their third child this coming November!
Sandy Hottell
Administrator & Financial Secretary
shottell@stmumc.org
Sandra Hottell (Sandy) joined the staff of SMUMC in December, 2020. Sandy has 30 years of accounting experience in a variety of different industries, and also serves at Board Treasurer/Bookkeeper for Brandon’s House Counseling Center in New Albany, Indiana. A life-long Indiana resident, Sandy currently lives in Jeffersonville.
In her spare time, Sandy enjoys reading biographies and true crime books. She is a U of L Cardinals fan, and loves the Green Bay Packers.
Frank Krause
Sexton
As a member of the St. Matthews staff since 2000, Frank oversees the care and maintenance of the church’s physical plant and campus. His generous, cheerful spirit and his professionalism reflect his great care for the diverse congregation he serves. And he makes a terrific catfish dinner!