Welcome to the Hoffmans!

On Sunday, July 6, the members of Worthington UMC officially welcomed our new associate minister, Reverend David Hoffman, his wife Melissa and twin daughters Andrea and Alyson. Prior to his appointment at WUMC, David served the Prospect United Methodist Church, near Marion, Ohio, for the past twelve years.

Natives of the Marion area, David and Melissa graduated from Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio. David and his twin are the youngest of five siblings, who now live in Ohio, Georgia and Chicago. Both David's and Melissa's parents live in Marion. After earning his degree in psychology, David graduated from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, in Delaware, Ohio. With a degree in elementary education, Melissa is currently a 4th Grade Elementary School teacher with the Pleasant Local Schools in southern Marion County.

Although David is himself an identical twin, this in no way prepared him to raise his own twin daughters. Andrea and Alyson are 7 years old and will be 2nd graders in the fall. According to their dad, the girls are ornery and full of life. Once you get to know them, you can tell them apart by their personalities, but even he can't tell them apart sometimes!

David has a passion for outreach and mission. He believes that the best way to welcome others and to share our faith is to build bridges between the congregation and the surrounding community. David is very community minded and served as fire fighter and EMT in Prospect for 12 years. He recently did Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Children's Hospital and served as an on-call chaplain at Marion General Hospital. Because of his daughters' diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis, he also spends a lot of time at the statehouse and across the state, advocating for children with medical disabilities. While it's hard to detect the girls' disease on the outside, it's a daily battle on the inside; however, they are both doing well. David and Melissa are active supporters of the Central Ohio Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

David is looking forward to being part of the Selah process at Worthington UMC and is excited to be serving here during this 200th year celebration. While at Prospect UMC, he took a team approach to create an additional Sunday worship service, a "non-threatening blend"with traditional and alternative elements of worship and music, which drew a wide cross-section of the congregation. According to David, "the goal of worship is to lead us beyond ourselves and out into the world."

In addition to spending time with his family, David enjoys reading. He is currently reading Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, a novel by Anne Rice, and Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics, by Adam Hamilton. His favorite author is the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor.

David says the Hoffman family is very excited to be here serving with the Worthington congregation. "What an exciting time to be remembering the past, to be honoring the current mission and ministry of the congregation, and to be looking at the future with all that God has promised. We are honored and privileged to be a part of the Worthington congregation and community at this important time."

Let's all take time to personally welcome and get to know David, Melissa, Andrea and Alyson Hoffman!