The Governing Board Nominating Committee (GBNC) is excited to present the candidates for the slate for the 2022 General Conference.
Clergy Candidates (5) (2 Governing Board vacancies)
Rev. Onetta Brooks (she/her/hers), Founders MCC, Los Angeles, California, USA
Rev. Onetta Brooks is a licensed Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches Clergy and was ordained on January 27, 2007. She earned a Master of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary/Southern California; Master of Public Administration from California State University, Dominquez Hills; and Bachelor of Arts (mathematics) from Pomona College.
Rev. Brooks was elected to serve on MCC’s Governing Board from 2010 to 2016. In 2018, she served as a consultant to the governance committee until appointed to serve on the Governing Board in October 2018 until General Conference July 2019. She has provided church board training upon request, participated in anti-bias/justice webinars and MCC’s Thriving in Ministry program during 2021-22. She has served as an interim pastor and/or gap pastor for a few MCC churches over the years as well as volunteer clergy at Founders MCC. She worked professionally for various aerospace companies as a program manager/systems engineer/software engineer for 34 years.
Rev. Brooks is a member of Founders MCC in Los Angeles, CA (USA). She currently
serves on the Board of Trustees of Pomona College.
Rev. Beulah Durrheim (she/her/hers), Good Hope MCC, Capetown, South Africa
Rev. Beulah Durrheim has been the solo pastor at Good Hope MCC, an inner city church based in Cape Town since 2012. She has a theology degree from the University of Southern Africa. She served as a pastor in the Methodist Church for almost 10 years, and was a Spiritual Director for Upper Room Ministries in South Africa. She has served in various denominational capacities in MCC: The moderator nominating committee, as a member of the judicial pool, and as an Africa Network Leader. Besides her 20 years of pastoral ministry she also worked at a bank, a paint sales company, a pre-school and a conference centre. She was often entrusted with managing these businesses and learnt to deal with finances, staff and clients.
Rev. Durrheim initiated her own small businesses, establishing a Retreat Ministry and setting up a Bookshop. In all of these experiences she discovered she is a leader, skilled at working with diverse people, able to manage budgets, seeing creative angles to solving problems and being willing to learn from her mistakes. She loves the great outdoors and has walked the Camino in Spain several times. She enjoys running in the mountains and loves doing endurance sports that test her physical and mental strength. She was in a long-term relationship for 20 years which ended in 2019. She has learnt to navigate pain and loss and has become resilient when it comes to dealing with change. She values integrity, community, humour, empathy, commitment and paths that lead to healing and compassion.
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher (she/her/hers), MCC of Rehoboth, Beach, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, USA
If you were to ask Rev. Elder Diane Fisher to describe herself, she would likely say, “I am a lesbian Christian pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and I am the mother of a fabulous daughter, Karli and married to Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos who delights my heart.” Diane is a queer activist, proudly Canadian, who had her daughter with two gay men (Bill and Walter). She is best known within MCC as someone who is passionate about local churches, cares deeply about God, and advocates tirelessly on behalf of young people and the LGBTQI community. She is known internationally as the “bishop of lesbians” and for her justice ministry with LGBTQI people, especially in Eastern Europe and Africa. Thanks to her tireless work in Eastern Europe, MCC became identified as the Human Rights Church. Rev. Elder Fisher was presented with MCC’s Human Rights Award in 2010 and has been the recipient of many other National and International Awards for her tireless Human Rights work. She has been the convener of the Progressive Interfaith Alliance of Southern Delaware and President of the Lewes Rehoboth Association of Churches.
She is and has been a local church pastor, a district coordinator, an elder, and the Clerk of the Governing Board. She cares deeply about MCC and strongly believes that there is an ongoing need for our church in the world. Her passion is working to change systems that encourage or reinforce marginalization of those who have been caught “outside the system.” Diane lives with her wife, Kharma, and their pets Kady (dog), Téa (cat), Tobert (cat), and Annie. In her spare time, Diane plays with various stringed instruments, creates stained glass pieces, and camps/fishes as often as possible.
Rev. Joseph San Jose (he/him/his), Open Table MCC, Mandaluyong City, The Philippines
Rev. Joseph San Jose is currently the Pastor of Open Table Metropolitan Community Church located in the Philippines. He has been a member of MCC since March of 2010. He finished his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary (Philippines) Summa Cum Laude, also receiving the Bishop Arichea excellence award for Biblical Studies. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Santo Thomas. In 2019, he was given the opportunity to join a leadership program by IREX under the US State Department where he spent 4 months of internship with Resurrection MCC in Houston, Texas.
Prior to becoming a Pastor, Rev. San Jose worked in the sector of Financial Markets for 7 years, working for Thomson Reuters and ETrade Financial. He believes in the continuing mission of MCC to proclaim God’s love for all people; create and sustain safe spaces for queer people; and MCC’s participation in the wider work of justice in the world. He also strongly believes in the representation of peoples raised-up and living outside of North America and Europe, especially Asians living in Asia, in the governance of MCC. He is currently living in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines, with his Partner of 7 Years, Lawrence, with their fur children, Duke and Duchess.
Rev. Doretha Williams-Flournoy (she/her/hers), A Church for All MCC, North Highlands, California, USA
Rev. Doretha Williams-Flournoy is the Senior Pastor of A Church For All (ACFA), MCC in North Highlands (a suburb of Sacramento, California). In 2015, ACFA launched The Ripple Effect, a mental health respite center which provides support to individuals suffering from an emotional crisis. In 2019, the church expanded its services to include The Living Room, an African American Suicide Prevention Project, which provides peer counseling, case management, and community training. Both programs are funded through Sacramento County Department of Behavioral Health Services. Rev. Flournoy serves as the executive director of those programs.
Rev. Flournoy also serves as a consultant and provides interim executive leadership to organizations in transition. She just recently concluded a four-year post as President and CEO of the California Black Health Network. Over her 30-year career, Rev. Flournoy has served in executive leadership for organizations providing local and statewide HIV/AIDS, mental health, primary medical care, and policy advocacy services. Her portfolio also includes expertise in the provision of statewide technical assistance and training programs focused on Prevention and Early Intervention, Health Equity, and the Integration of Primary Care and Behavioural Health.
Lay Candidates (4) (2 Governing Board vacancies)
Clare Coughlin (she/her/hers), Divine Peace MCC, Waterford, Michigan, USA
Clare Coughlin, of Redford, Michigan, USA, lives with her wife Barbara and dog
Abby. Clare is a 23-year member of Divine Peace MCC in Waterford, Michigan,
where she has served as the Lay Delegate, and has served on the Board of Directors in capacities including member-at-large, Treasurer, Clerk and Vice Moderator. She is currently serving as Vice Moderator.
Clare is serving on the Governing Board after having been elected to a three-year term in 2019 and is excited about all of the work that has been done to date. She is the Governing Board representative for the Commission on Pathways of Healing and Reconciliation. She is also working with the Governance Team.
Clare brings a wealth of experience from her career at the Girl Scouts where she led the Outdoor Program department and later the Product Sales department. Both of these positions were responsible for vast budgets and entailed working with a very large and diverse population.
Clare recognizes the value of hard work, direct open communication, tactfulness and transparency as she endeavours to continue to heed God’s call to help MCC move forward.
Chad C. Hobbs (he, him, his), MCC Tampa, Tampa, Florida, USA
Chad Hobbs is the Manager of the IT Project Management Office at Centene Corporation. In this role he is responsible for a team of 10-15 Technical Program and Project Managers. Chad oversees 3 portfolios of projects supporting 3 separate VP’s and all of their program and project work. This role regularly challenges him to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to manage and eliminate obstacles, as well as personnel management.
Chad lives in sunny Tampa, Florida, USA with his husband of almost 16 years, Samuel Asencio, and their 3 fur babies (cats) Bailey and Kailey.
Chad has been a member of MCC Tampa since 2009. He has served in a variety of roles, including the Treasurer on the Board of Directors, member of the Pastoral Search Committee, part-time Bookkeeper, Lay Delegate, and member of the inaugural Pastoral Relations Committee. He has had an interest in the wider denomination since getting to work with many wonderful people through his various roles at MCC Tampa and that interest only grew after attending his first General Conference in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 2016. At the denominational level, Chad’s work includes being a member of the Assessments Commission that was responsible for restructuring the assessments structure for UFMCC. He also served on the Programming Team and the 50th Anniversary Gala Planning Team for General Conference 2019, as well as assisted with all AV needs at General Conference.
Chad was elected to the Governing Board at General Conference 2019 and since being elected has served as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Team. Chad also serves on the Governing Board HR Team. He serves on the General Conference 2022 Core Team and is a Governing Board member of the Commission on General Conferences where he co-chairs the Finance Team.
Chad loves the mission and work of MCC and is dedicated to being a part of it.
Leo Rossetti (he/him/his), ICM Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Léo Rossetti has been a member of ICM Rio since 2007. At 38 years old, he is a young adult leader and enthusiast of the global presence of Metropolitan Community Churches in Brazil and worldwide. Léo is a historian, history teacher, has a Master’s degree in History Teaching and is about to finish his Doctorate in Social History, both at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Léo has discovered and developed his special call to global ministry at MCC. With significant experience as a volunteer translator within the denomination, he has also served on various global MCC teams, commissions and committees.
He is the author of the motion that led to the creation of the UFMCC Commission on Communications at the Orlando General Conference, 2019. In addition to Portuguese, he speaks English and Spanish (and also LIBRAS, the Brazilian Sign Language). Léo is also an actor, poet and author of books, including “Tropical butterflies: the Brazilian Way of the Metropolitan Community Churches” (Metanoia, 2016). He has been married for 14 years to Rev. Luiz Gustavo Silva, senior pastor at ICM Rio, and both live in the city of Rio de Janeiro together with Safira, the couple’s feline daughter.
Ivana Warwick (she/her/hers), ICM Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ivana Warwick Kerr has been in ICM São Paulo since 2015 when, at age 51, she came out as a woman.
Ivana was born in São Paulo into an evangelical family. Her father was a pastor and founded several churches. She, her brother and her mother (a passionate music teacher) were her second family. Ivana visited the churches her father founded and was able to see his passion for the gospel and his strength of faith. This marked her deeply. In her youth she went to other places in the country and got to know other religions and mystics. She returned to São Paulo, married the mother of her children and joined a fundamentalist denomination. Ivana stayed for more than 10 years, when she left at the beginning of the transition process. She got to know ICM, which was vitally important. Ivana is involved in all local, national community activities and has had some interactions at the global MCC. It is part of the Commission on Pathways of Healing and Reconciliation. She participates in several works: podcasts, lives, seminars, etc., always identifying herself as a trans pastor and representing ICM.
