2024 Retirements

As I young child Jim would sit along the banks of the Delaware River in Delanco reading his Bible and dreaming of one day serving as a United Methodist Pastor. That calling and dream has come true. The past 34+ years have been filled with excitement, many challenges and blessing. At each step in this journey God has been so faithful. Jim has enjoyed serving in his various appointments, on Conference committees, on District committees, and on short term mission trips. He says it has been a privilege to serve the churches of East Pennsauken, Delair, Woodlynne, Porchtown, Franklinville, and Pitman. Through it all, Jim has leaned heavily on the words from Isaiah 40:31.
As he transitions to this new season of his life Jim is looking forward to spending more time with his wife Judy, their family, and his “furry, four-legged,” friend. He is also looking forward to catching up on some relaxing travel, reading, while still looking for opportunities to continue to be a blessing to others.

1990 East Pennsauken; 1991 East Pennsauken & Delair; Southern New Jersey Conference 1994; 1994 Woodlynne; 1999 Franklinville and Porchtown: Zion; 2002 Franklinville; 2014 Pitman

GNJ Conference 2011; 2009 UMC of Verona (PL); 2011 UMC of Verona and Chaplain, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ; 2012 Chaplain, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ (Verona); 2013 Chaplain, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ and Union City: Emmanuel, Coord. Pastor; 1/1/2014Chaplain, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ and Union City: Emmanuel and Irvington, Coordinating Pastor; 2014 Chaplain, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ and Irvington UMC, Coord. Pastor; 12/1/2014 Chaplain, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ

2005 Hope: St. John’s (PL); 12/1/2011 Hope: St. John’s and Johnsonburg (PL); 2017 Hope: St. John’s, Columbia: Walnut Valley, and Coordinating Pastor at Johnsonburg (FL); 9/1/17 Hope: St. John’s, Columbia: Walnut Valley

Rev. Frank Davis has faithfully served the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference in many capacities. His tenure included serving nine churches, with his final appointment at Leonia UMC. At the Conference and district levels, he has served as a District Superintendent, Chair of Order of Elders, Exec of Board of Ordained Ministry, Circuit elder, Supervising pastor, Cohort leader in Leadership academy and many more.

In retirement, with the time he has remaining, Frank intends to work with a ministry that seeks to find innovative ways to rehouse the homeless and to create practical ways to feed the hungry, especially in urban areas.

After all these years, he still loves chocolate.

GNJ Conference 2005; 2003 Gladstone (PL); 2004 South River: Conklin (PL) ; 2005 South River: Conklin and Sayreville; 8/11/2006 Family Leave (para. 355); 2008 Plainfield: Covenant; 2012 Spring Valley; 2015 New Brunswick; 2017 Capital District Superintendent; 2018 Appointed to Peninsula-Delaware Conference; 4/1/2019 Medical Leave; 1/1/2020 Leonia

Pastor Anthony J. Godlefski attended the Westminster Choir College, and Drew Theological Seminary. He served as accompanist and Assistant Director of the Seminary Choir.
He gives thanks for his spiritual mentors: Norman Vincent Peale, Robert H. Schuller, Sr., and J. Ellsworth Kalas. His musical mentors were Virgil Fox, Fred Waring, Robert Shaw, and Alice Parker.

At Christ UMC, Piscataway he

• designed and built the stained glass windows in Founder’s Chapel, (1984)
• supported the construction of the new Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall (1994).
• He received the Denman Award for evangelism in 1996.

At Montgomery UMC he provided pastoral leadership during

• the construction of the Education Wing (2001),
• the renovation of the exterior (2017),
• the rebuilding of the Banquet Hall, (2010),
• installation of the pipe organs (2004; 2019),
• designed the sanctuary stained glass windows (2010; 2016).
• Initiated the online broadcast system (2018).
• He has served as Director of Music and Choir Director of MUMC.
• He has served as organist of the GNJ Annual Conference and directed the Conference Choir.
• He served as musical director of the “Bishop’s Songfest” events (2009-2011) with Bishop Devadhar in Ocean Grove.
• His hobbies include music, seascape painting, and calligraphy.

SNJ Conference 1975; 1975 To Attend School; 1977 Springdale (S) and School; Trans. to NNJ Conference1998; 1978 Roselle: St. Paul’s & Wesley; 1982 Piscataway: Christ; 1998 Belle Mead: Montgomery

Trans from Western PA Conference 2003; 1999 Kenilworth: Korean Central Mission; 2005 Kenilworth: Community Central; 2009 Kenilworth UMC; 2011 Hopatcong: Westside; 2014 Hopatcong: Westside and Coord. Pastor, Landing: Port Morris; 2015 Hopatcong: Westside

David LeDuc has been honored to serve and encourage the churches, pastors, and people of Greater New Jersey Annual Conference for 39 years.   He has sought to grow people in faith in our ever-loving and everlasting God and in service locally and globally in the name of Christ.  He looks forward to spending more time with his wife and family, pursue some other things that bring him joy, and serve the Lord in other ways.  He expects to enjoy babysitting, traveling, roller coasters, and sharing the love, peace, hope, and joy of Jesus Christ.

NNJ Conference 1985; 1985 Linden; 1989 Sussex; 1995 Franklin Lakes: UMC of Franklin Lakes; 2007 Nutley: Vincent

NNJ Conference 1992; 1989 (Lower Berkshire Valley); 1992 Mendham; 1995 Sussex; 2001 Jackson and Pleasant Grove; 2004 Rockaway: UMC of the Rockaways; 2012 Washington; 2020 Howell: Church of the Master and West Belmar

Lynn Mears has felt blessed to serve Christ through ministry in small congregation churches. She enjoyed encouraging ecumenical connections between local churches and helping them to connect and support each other in ministry to their local community and beyond. It was also her joy to serve on the Raritan Valley Church Union as it’s secretary. In her retirement she wants to spend more time in practicing her love of quilting and expanding her ability to create and craft liturgical stoles. She and her husband look forward to spending more time traveling together.

2004 Annandale: Allerton (PL); 2014 Cokesbury and Fairmount (PL); 1/1/2017 Cokesbury and Fairmount (FL)

1982 Midvale, Half time; 1983 Midvale; 1985 Midvale, 3/4 time; 1987 Korean Community English; 1992 Englewood: First & Tenafly; 1995 Tenalfly

A Rockland County, NY native, Dave Montanye was ordained a Deacon in 1978 and an Elder in 1980.  He earned a BA in political science at American University and a M. Div and D. Min. from Drew University.  He pastored churches in Garnerville, NY and Branchville, NJ.

In 1985, he was appointed Program Coordinator of United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) where he developed a life-long commitment to working with refugees.  In the 1990’s, he served ecumenically as Director of Refugee Resettlement for the Virginia Council of Churches and Domestic Resettlement Coordinator for Church World Service where he directed the annual resettlement of 5,000 refugees speaking 22 languages.  In 2012, he returned to parish ministry as the Pastor of the First UMC of Avalon, where he has enjoyed serving for the past 12 years.

Dave’s plans for retirement include returning to the beautiful Hudson Valley to spend time researching his French Huguenot and Dutch ancestry, enjoying some film festivals, and attending some baseball games.

NNJ Conference 1978; 1978 Haverstraw, NY; Un. Methodist Ministry; School; 1979 United Methodist Parish of Rockland County; Dir. of Haverstraw U.M. Ministry; 1980 Garnerville, N.Y. (Half time); 1984 Branchville; 9/23/85 Program Coordinator, UMCOR, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church; 1990 To Attend School; 1991 Dir. Of Refugee Resettlement, Va. Council of Churches; 9/14/95 Church World Service, National Council of Churches, Program Coordinator, Immigration and Refugee Program; 1/1/97 Massachusetts Coalition for the Disabled; 1998 Dir. Of Dev., LD Brandeis, Un. Of Louisville; 2000 Dir. Of Dev. & Alumni Relations, Pace Univ. School of Law; Dir. Of Development Alzheimer Association, Morristown; 2006 Campaign Consultant, Bacone College, OK; 10/1/2007 Exec. Secy. – Gifts Cultivation, GBGM; 7/1/2008 Rural and Migrant Ministry Education Coordinator; 2010 Dir. Major and Planned Gifts, Keuka College (Stanhope: Waterloo); 2011 Transitional Leave; 2012 Avalon: First

“I would like thank God and the GNJAC for giving me this awesome opportunity to serve God and God’s people through the United Methodist Church. It has been an amazing ministry journey for 26 years. As I step into the world of retirement, I eagerly anticipate the adventures that await. While I will miss the daily interactions and shared moments in the local church ministry, I am excited about the prospect of new beginnings and the chance to explore different facets of life.”

Southern New Jersey Conference 1997; 1997 Hazlet Associate; 1998 Belmar; 2003 Union Beach: Grace; 2004 Bernadrsville; 2005 West Paterson: Appenzeller Memorial Nairi; 2010 Changewater and Lebanon: Round Valley, and Coordinating Pastor, High Bridge; 2016 Delran: First; 2019 Totowa

NNJ Conference 1998; 1995 Norton; 1996 Norton & Glen Gardner; 1997 Perth Amboy: Simpson; 2000 Highland Park: Trinity; 2004 Raritan Valley District Superintendent, GNJAC; 2008 East Orange: Calvary Roseville; 2023 Passaic: First, Roselle, Park Ridge, East Orange: Rise, & Rutherford

Church of the Nazarene; 1/1/2009 -6/30/2009 Ewan UMC; 10/1/2009- 6/30/2010 Penns Grove: Emmanuel; 2011 Bridgeton: Friendship-Finley; 2013 Woodstown: Asbury; 2015 Discontinued; 2022 Woodstown: Asbury

“Tricia answered God’s call into pastoral ministry in 2009, becoming a Licensed Local Pastor in 2013. She has been blessed with serving the 2-point charges of Free Union & Vienna UMCs and Grace (Dover) & Lower Berkshire Valley UMCs. In addition to Grace, she served one year at Teabo when the Lower Berkshire Valley congregation merged with them and then one year at First UMC(Dover) following that. Since 2021, she has served part-time at Grace UMC(Dover). Tricia has a passion for sharing the Gospel and preaching the power of the Holy Spirit to equip each of us to share our witness in everyday conversations. While the time has come for her to retire, her calling to serve will not end. We all know that there are unlimited opportunities to continue in mission throughout our lives and Tricia is looking forward to that in retirement.” 

2013 Great Meadows: Free Union and Vienna (SY); 9/15/2013 Great Meadows: Free Union and Vienna (PL); 2017 Dover: Grace and Wharton: Lower Berkshire Valley (FL); 2019 Teabo, Assoc. and Dover: Grace (FL); 2020 Dover: Grace and Dover: First (FL); 2021 Dover: Grace (PL)

Rev. Dr. Linda A. Ross was raised in the suburbs of Chicago.  She attended the University of Illinois for her undergraduate degree in Music Education.  Rev. Ross was called into the ministry in 1999, entered Drew Theological School and obtained a Master of Divinity degree in 2003 and a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Care and Counseling in 2010.

Believing that “every day is an adventure,” in retirement Linda plans to continue enjoying the adventures that God presents.

And … we all know she is a die-hard Cubs fan!

GNJ Conference 2004; 2003 Chatsworth (SY); ; 2004 Hamilton Square: St. Mark’s, Associate; 2010 Mays Landing: First

“Grateful for God’s blessings through this journey of life, I have had opportunities to serve congregations in Ohio and New Jersey, and nearly twenty years in social work.  I am most grateful for the members of the congregations and my clients for the times they were Christ to me.  I am also grateful for the friends I have made along the way, especially among the colleagues with whom I served on the Board of Ordained Ministry.  While enjoying retirement in South Jersey, my wife, Pam, and I plan to visit friends and family as we travel.”

GNJ Conference 2006; 1986 Port Norris:First and Buckshutem (FL); 2006 Elmer (Assoc.) and New Point Center Division, Behavioral Health Care, Woodbury, NJ; 1/1/2008 Ewan (1/4); 2008 Egg Harbor Twp.: Zion; 2019 Fair Haven: Christ and Little Silver: Embury

“Spending the early years of my life in the high Arctic, as the son of a novelist and a fur trader, my early adventures included snowshoe races and curling.  My spiritual development was diverse as one of my grandfathers was a Roman Catholic Priest and the other was a Methodist Orangeman. My first vocational adventure involved international auditing, investment banking in Manhattan and visiting over seventy countries. My third act will include our grand twins, business consulting, being a historical  site docent, sports coaching, and teaching. Special thanks to my mentors and the congregations that taught me the power of a loving God.”

Southern New Jersey Conference 1998; 1998 Columbus: Wesley and Hedding; 2001 Hightstown: First; 2007 Morristown; 2014 Columbus: Wesley and Hedding

Paul Zorn has served in churches in the northern part of the conference for 25 years, beginning in Stony Point, NY for 12 years, followed by 7 years in Lake Hopatcong, and finally 7 years in Port Jervis, NY.

Paul also served beyond the local church.  He was youth ministry coordinator, a member of the Conference Council on Youth Ministries, on the District ministry team.  Paul served additionally as a candidacy mentor, clergy mentor, and as a member and later chair of the AC Board of Pension and Health Benefits.

Paul feels blessed by his service to Christ and to the church.

He is looking forward to spending more time on his motorcycle and seeing what God has in store for him and his wife Terry.

1998 Stony Point: Trinity; 2002 Stony Point (NY): First and Stony Point (NY): Trinity; 2010 Lk. Hopatcong: Hurdtown and UMC of Lk. Hopatcong; 2017 Port Jervis (NY): Drew and Greenville

EPA Retirements can be found here.