Michael Ingersoll, Pastor
My name is Michael Ingersoll and I am looking forward to serving as the next pastor of the Grand Valley UMC. I have been married to Roxann for the past 50 years. We currently reside in New Castle. We have two children. Charity and her partner Corneel Booysen live in Nashville, Tennessee with our three grandchildren Addison, Anneliese, and Luke. Jarred and his wife, Jenny Wardell, live in Denver.
I am a retired minister of the United Methodist Church. For the past 30 years I have served churches in Caro and Akron, Michigan; Steamboat Springs and Oak Creek, Colorado; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Cheyenne Wells and Kit Carson, Colorado; and Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Ministry is my second career. My first career was a mechanic for fourteen years. I enjoyed the challenge of the work and getting my hands greasy. My call to ministry came in 1975 and I started going to college part time in 1976. After I graduated in 1984 from Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan we moved to Denver so I could attend Iliff School of Theology. While in seminary I was the Director of Youth and Education at Lakewood UMC.
Roxann and I are mission minded. Roxann has organized over 17 national and international mission trips. We have led mission teams to Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Honduras to help build homes and smoke free wood burning stoves. The trips in the USA were for disaster recovery.
Another one of our ongoing mission projects is located in Veracruz, Nicaragua. Regan Downs, our Nicaraguan team translator and friend, started an English Academy in his home. This is located in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Managua. His hope is to give the students a better chance at future jobs. After Regan started the school, he mentioned to Roxann that some of the students needed financial help in order to attend the English classes. She has partnered with Regan to help find sponsors to pay for the tuition. Since my retirement we have spent a few weeks each year helping out at the school. Roxann helps teach and I do needed repairs and help out in the classroom.
Other activities that we enjoy are riding our tandem bike with friends, traveling to visit our family and friends, reading, Roxann studies Spanish, and I like handy-man projects.
May God bless our future partnership!
Michael