Church Staff

We welcome contacting any of our church staff! Please use the Contact Us form and we’ll get in touch with you right away or call the church office at 503-364-6709.

Pastor John Fleming leads the Pastoral Team for the Open Door Churches (ODC) of Salem-Keizer and provides guidance and support for the Administrative Leadership of Salem First and the other congregations of the ODC collaborative. Pastor John is part of leading the spiritual life of FUMC, offering leadership in worship, including weekly preaching, and offering devotionals, blogs, and other forms of spiritual guidance in digital formats.

A recent transplant to Oregon from North Texas, Pastor John enjoys many kinds of outdoor pursuits, especially hiking, exploring new places, and golf. Music is an important part of John’s life and he has been a live performer and composer of Folk/Americana for about the past 15 years. John has been married to his wife, Rona, for 26 years and they have two adult daughters—and two adorable dogs, Buddy and Mia.

Pastor Jenny Smith grew up in Ohio and Alaska. She attended Florida Southern College and after receiving her Masters of Divinity in 2010, Jenny served churches in Alaska and Washington, before coming to the Salem area in 2023. Jenny is a writing pastor and author. She writes a weekly Substack newsletter called The Thread. Jenny recently published, Still Here: A Poetry Memoir of Grief & Love. Her love for God, living in the way of Jesus, and the church’s invitation to embody love come through in her writing, speaking, and embodied leadership. 

Jenny’s been married to Aaron for 18 years and mom to Isabella and Wesley. They adore their dog, Gracie. Jenny loves the water, exploring new towns, baking, and playing with her family.

Pastor Kift Hyunjae Lee is from Seoul, South Korea where his family still lives. Growing up as the son of a Korean Methodist pastor, Kift grew up watching his father preach theology and lead traditional Korean worship services, both things Kift is also passionate about. Kift earned his Masters of Divinity and his Doctorate from Claremont School of Theology. He is Particularly interested in the spirituality of Koreans and Native Americans and believes they have a lot in common due to both groups dealing with the oppression of colonialism, while they also have their differences.

Kift lives in Keizer, Oregon and makes visits back to South Korea to see his parents and older brother. He enjoys jogging in parks and playing musical instruments.

Pastor Deb Olenyik spent many years in active ministry in churches and regional leadership in Colorado, Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region before retiring a few years ago to Oregon. She continues to serve Christ and the people of Christ as the part-time ODC campus pastor for Trinity UMC. She enjoys leading worship, connecting with people, visioning possibilities, and forming teams to accomplish whatever ministry needs might be unfolding. Pastor Deb enjoys the outdoors, music, sports, travel, good food and hanging out with family and friends near and far. She currently lives in southeast Portland. 

Kathy Pressler is the church administrator who oversees the general operations of the church, human resources,  and schedules all events, meetings, and building rentals. She also serves as the bookkeeper for both the FUMC Trustees and Open Door Churches.

When at home, you can find Kathy working in her yard, walking her Cocker Spaniel, Jackson, or dabbling in water colors. She also enjoys short trips to the beach and the mountains – anywhere with water!

Judy Allen is the Bookkeeper/Business Coordinator for the church. Her responsibilities include recording income, paying bills, balancing the accounts, reconciling bank statements and preparing financial reports.

A math teacher for 31 years, Judy still enjoys working with students at the high school and college levels. She loves to visit her three children’s families (7 grandchildren) where hiking, camping, soccer games and high school musicals add fun and variety to retirement.

Katie Carpenter serves as both our Office Reception and Secretary and is the face visitors first see along with our volunteers. Katie also creates both our weekly and monthly newsletters as well as designing our Sunday worship bulletins.

Passionate about accepting all people exactly where they are, Katie makes sure people from all backgrounds and ages feel welcome in our church. When she isn’t with us at Salem First, Katie loves spending time with her family, taking part in outdoor activities, and attending various music and art events.

Aaron Smith, Praise Band Director Aaron joined the staff at First UMC in 2023.

 

Bryce Tomlin, Director of Music Ministries, is a native Salem resident. He has sung in various operas and is an active soloist for recitals and concerts with Willamette Masterchorus and Corvallis Repertory Singers.

Bryce is a graduate of Sprague High School and earned a degree in Music Education at  Oregon State University. He then studied for his Masters in Music at The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, where he lived with his wife Leah until the fall of 2017. During his time in Tucson, Bryce was a full time staff singer at St. Philips in the Hills Episcopal Church and worked with the youth at the Allegro School of music leading group voice classes. Bryce and Leah bought Bryce’s childhood home in the fall of 2018 and continue to reside in South Salem. Bryce is now the coordinator of vocal studies at Chemeketa Community College as well as an Associate artist at Willamette University.

Jon Stuber, our Choir Accompanist, holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to coming to Salem FUMC, he served at First Presbyterian and St. Mary’s Cathedral in Portland, Oregon.

As a pianist/organist, Jon has appeared with numerous groups such as the Consonare Chorale and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. As a conductor, he has worked with groups such as Belle Voci Women’s Ensemble and the University of Portland Women’s Choir. While completing his doctoral program, Jon made his European debut at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, England and has performed in numerous musicals.

During the day, Jon works at Aldrich Advisors as an Account Manager in the Benefit Administration Division. When not managing benefits or playing music, you can find Jon digging in the garden, frying chicken, or at the movies.