First Christian Church Staff
Pastoral & Music Staff
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Introducing Rev. Dean Prophet, guest preacher
Rev. Dean Prophet is a Colorado native. Born in Canon City, in 1960 his parents moved the family to Pueblo. It is here that he attended school graduating from Pueblo Central High School. After high school Dean worked for Dana Corporation, a piston making plant, and then went to work for Public Service Company of Colorado at the Comanche Power Plant where he retired in 2011. When Dean met his wife Becky he became a member of Park Hill Christian Church. He not only served in many capacities at Park Hill but has been active in the Central Rocky Mountain Region as well serving on the Order of Ministry Committee for a number of years, the Ethics Committee and was the Nurture Commissioner while the Region was in transformation. Dean was also involved with the Colorado Christian Home dinners in Pueblo heading the committee for a time. Dean was in the first group to graduate from the Lay Theological Institute after which he became a licensed minister. He served as the associate pastor at Park Hill until being called to serve as their senior pastor in 2008. Dean retired from the pulpit at Park Hill at the end of 2019. He and his wife Becky continue to live and serve in Pueblo. They have 4 adult children and 4 grandchildren.
Rev. Monica L. Banks, pastor.
BLD, College of Saint Mary (2002)
M.Div., Wake Forest University School of Divinity (2017)
Monica L. Banks was raised by baptist grandparents from the age of ten. She was baptized at the age of 12 and grew up attending youth group at First Baptist Church in Fremont, Nebraska. Ms. Banks was also active in church camp and statewide youth events.
Ms. Banks is a first generation college graduate. She attended business school and pursued a B.S. in Business Leadership and Management. She graduated from College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska in 2002. Ms. Banks spent much of her early career in the hospitality industry, was a corporate trainer and general manager at chef-owned and farm to table restaurants. She is passionate about food, service, and radical hospitality.
In 2012, Rev. Banks felt a call to explore a call to ministry. She began her theological education at Wake Forest School of Divinity. She studied food, health, and ecological well-being under Fred Bahnson. Rev. Banks was ordained and graduated Wake Forest May 2017 with her Master of Divinity and Concentration in Food, Health and Ecological Wellness. Rev. Banks was one of 8 awarded the 2017 Re:Generate Fellowships, which provided an opportunity for emerging leaders to consider how they might further engage pressing ecological issues, connect with peers, and better tell the story of why this work matters for the world.
During her second year of seminary, Rev. Banks attended the Wild Goose Festival[1] and was selected to be part of Lead Now. Drawing on the cutting-edge leadership of the Wild Goose Festival, LEAD NOW was a life-changing opportunity that put seminarians and first-call ministers in up-close and personal practice settings with cutting-edge faith transformation authors and activists. Beginning the festival with the LEAD NOW cohort provides an opportunity to share stories and connect with the narratives of other faith leaders. This was Monica’s first…but not last time at “Goose.” She went on to be a Festival Chaplain and eventually a Co-Creator sharing the story of faith based nonprofit work and Communion as Dessert.
Reverend Banks is the founder of New Communion[2], an interfaith nonprofit focused on Asset Based Community Development and food justice. She is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She also has served as Chaplain Resident at Moses Cone hospital in Greensboro, NC and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with focus on pediatric chaplaincy.
Rev. Banks has served as Senior Pastor of New Disciples Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Upper Midwest Region of the Christian Church) and of Hyattstown Christian Church in Clarksburg, Maryland (Capital Region of the Christian Church).She is active in the Ministerial Association of the Capital Region and has shepherded
Hyattstown Christian Church (most recently) in becoming officially Open and Affirming as of 2020. She enjoys music, reading, activism, hanging out with her dog JoJo, and hiking on the Appalachian trail in her free time.
“I was a pebble. I was a leaf. I was the jagged branch of a tree. I was nothing to them and they were everything to me.” Cheryl Strayed Wild: From Lost To Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
[1] https://wildgoosefestival.org/?v=2e5df5aa3470.
[2] http://www.newcommunion.org/.
BLD, College of Saint Mary (2002)
M.Div., Wake Forest University School of Divinity (2017)
Monica L. Banks was raised by baptist grandparents from the age of ten. She was baptized at the age of 12 and grew up attending youth group at First Baptist Church in Fremont, Nebraska. Ms. Banks was also active in church camp and statewide youth events.
Ms. Banks is a first generation college graduate. She attended business school and pursued a B.S. in Business Leadership and Management. She graduated from College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska in 2002. Ms. Banks spent much of her early career in the hospitality industry, was a corporate trainer and general manager at chef-owned and farm to table restaurants. She is passionate about food, service, and radical hospitality.
In 2012, Rev. Banks felt a call to explore a call to ministry. She began her theological education at Wake Forest School of Divinity. She studied food, health, and ecological well-being under Fred Bahnson. Rev. Banks was ordained and graduated Wake Forest May 2017 with her Master of Divinity and Concentration in Food, Health and Ecological Wellness. Rev. Banks was one of 8 awarded the 2017 Re:Generate Fellowships, which provided an opportunity for emerging leaders to consider how they might further engage pressing ecological issues, connect with peers, and better tell the story of why this work matters for the world.
During her second year of seminary, Rev. Banks attended the Wild Goose Festival[1] and was selected to be part of Lead Now. Drawing on the cutting-edge leadership of the Wild Goose Festival, LEAD NOW was a life-changing opportunity that put seminarians and first-call ministers in up-close and personal practice settings with cutting-edge faith transformation authors and activists. Beginning the festival with the LEAD NOW cohort provides an opportunity to share stories and connect with the narratives of other faith leaders. This was Monica’s first…but not last time at “Goose.” She went on to be a Festival Chaplain and eventually a Co-Creator sharing the story of faith based nonprofit work and Communion as Dessert.
Reverend Banks is the founder of New Communion[2], an interfaith nonprofit focused on Asset Based Community Development and food justice. She is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She also has served as Chaplain Resident at Moses Cone hospital in Greensboro, NC and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with focus on pediatric chaplaincy.
Rev. Banks has served as Senior Pastor of New Disciples Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Upper Midwest Region of the Christian Church) and of Hyattstown Christian Church in Clarksburg, Maryland (Capital Region of the Christian Church).She is active in the Ministerial Association of the Capital Region and has shepherded
Hyattstown Christian Church (most recently) in becoming officially Open and Affirming as of 2020. She enjoys music, reading, activism, hanging out with her dog JoJo, and hiking on the Appalachian trail in her free time.
“I was a pebble. I was a leaf. I was the jagged branch of a tree. I was nothing to them and they were everything to me.” Cheryl Strayed Wild: From Lost To Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
[1] https://wildgoosefestival.org/?v=2e5df5aa3470.
[2] http://www.newcommunion.org/.
Nancy Lingbloom, interim Choir Director.
We are grateful to Nancy for assisting us while we look for a new choir director.
We are grateful to Nancy for assisting us while we look for a new choir director.
Support Staff
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(click on the name to email)
Kathy Jones - Accountant
Patty Markwell - Office Manager
Ray Killian - Building Security Assistant
Jeff Bilyeu - Facilities Manager
Nursery - nursery attendants and volunteers
Jeff Bilyeu , Facilities Manager.
Patty Markwell - Office Manager
Ray Killian - Building Security Assistant
Jeff Bilyeu - Facilities Manager
Nursery - nursery attendants and volunteers
Jeff Bilyeu , Facilities Manager.
Program Staff
(click on the name to email)
(click on the name to email)
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First Christian Church