staff - Springville First United Methodist Church

Pastor and Staff

Senior Pastor, - Greg Van Dussen.

Rev. Greg Van Dussen has been Senior Pastor at Springville since 2006. Before coming to Springville, he served United Methodist Churches in Batavia, Cattaraugus and Wesley, Bergen, Albion, and East Aurora, all in the Western NY Conference. He was Batavia District Superintendent for six years.

Pastor Greg grew up in the Rochester area and graduated from Spencerport High School, SUNY Brockport (B.A., Philosophy, and M.A., American History.) and Colgate Rochester Divinity School (M. Div. and D. Min., Church History).

Dr. Van Dussen taught Irish and American History as an Adjunct Instructor at SUNY Brockport, and directed studies in Church History and Leadership for students at Empire State College and United Theological Seminary. He has written articles for Methodist History and Eire-Ireland and book reviews for several publications.

Pastor Greg was a delegate to General Conference in 2000 and 2004 and has been a delegate or reserve to eight Jurisdictional Conferences. He has held many Conference and District responsibilities, such as leading summer youth camps at Camp Asbury and Camp Findley and teaching at Local Pastors' Licensing School.

Pastor Greg and his wife Jackie have two married sons, Dan and Mike, and two grandchildren. Jackie is a recently retired 3rd grade teacher. She enjoys golf and likes to garden. Greg likes music, reading, and history. They both enjoy travel, walking, and cross-country skiing.

Pastor Greg believes in a church...

- deeply rooted in Scripture and prayer,

- living the evangelical, Wesleyan tradition of grace and love,

- reaching out to each other, our community, other Christians, and God's world,

- traditional and contemporary - thankful for the past and excited about the future,

- where everyone's gifts are appreciated and put to work for the good of all,

- always growing in Christ by the Spirit's power.

Associate/Youth Pastor, - Eric Rose.
Eric Rose was born and raised in the small rural community of Sandusky, Michigan where he attended Countryside Free Methodist Church. While in high school Eric was involved in Soccer, Track, and Cross-county, including the arts such as band, choir, drama, and musical theater. In high school Eric also traveled with Teens for Christ ministries, a youth choir, and was a vocalist with the music group Sonshine.

Eric attended Spring Arbor University (MI) and graduated with degree in Psychology and Social Studies. During college Eric held several jobs including Vocalist and Road Manager for the traveling worship band Wellspring and helped troubled youth as a Youth Mentor at Teen Ranch in Michigan.

After Eric’s extensive Admissions experience as an Intern at Spring Arbor University, Eric served in Washington D.C. as an Admissions and Marketing Coordinator. During Eric’s time in metropolitan D.C./Maryland Eric served as a worship leader/coordinator for the youth band Gone Fishin at the Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene along with serving on the Sunday morning worship team.

Eric then accepted a position as an Adolescent Case Manager in the local Junior High School through a mental health hospital in Lafayette, Indiana. During his tenure in Indiana, Eric was worship team coordinator for Christ United Methodist Church for the student ministry along with serving as the midweek bible study teacher.

Eric married his college sweetheart Meghan (Riggs) from Ludington, Michigan in April 2007. Eric hopes to continue his education at Asbury Theological Seminary (KY) online and receive an M.A. in Youth and Family ministry.

Eric believes ministering to students needs to be RELATIONAL while encouraging individuals to be AUTHENTIC in all aspects of their lives. The ministry will be RELEVANT and EXCITING as we journey in this life towards Christ together.

Office Manager, - Peggy Jordan,
Peggy has been the Springville First United Methodist Church secretary since 1986. Her calm and pleasant manner helps to keep thousands of phone calls, mountains of paper work, and communications flowing smoothly. Contact the church office at office@s1umc.org or phone (716) 592-7451.

Brenda Picazo: Director of Music (Traditional Service)
A member of the Springville United Methodist Church for twenty years, Brenda has been involved in music ministry since she was a teenager as church organist, pianist or a member of a choir or ensemble. A teacher by profession, she is a Houghton College alumna and did her graduate work at Lehigh University. Besides leading worship at our traditional service, she teaches piano in her home studio and performs with her husband, Esteban at coffeehouses, community events, retirement homes, etc. as the other half of Love’s Journey. She also sings with a ladies’ trio called Unbroken Chord. One of her favorite Scripture verses is Psalm 40:3a (NIV): "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God" and her greatest desire is to touch hearts and affect lives for God’s Kingdom through her music.