Incoming Leaders
Oriero, Serena
I had the privilege of growing up in the church. I am the granddaughter of a Free Methodist Elder, and while I was growing up, his appointment was as the campground director here in Southern California. I spent most of my childhood attending camps. I have spent most of my life saying that I don’t remember experiencing God until I was an adult, but I was wrong.
The more I look back at my childhood, I realize what an honor and privilege it was to spend so much time in the mountains surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, and I did it while being poured into by incredible women of God who took time out of their schedules to be camp counselors. To this day, there are multiple experiences I can remember as if they were yesterday, such as things they would say during cabin devotions or illustrations that speakers would give when preaching. I have used an illustration or two when talking to my children or writing a sermon when preparing to preach.
I hadn’t realized how shaped I was by those years, and I am incredibly thankful for them now. God used those people to help shape me into who I am today, and being surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation has caused me to have a deep love for looking around and experiencing the still, small voice that whispers His love for me while gazing at the beauty created by the creator of the universe.
God's Call to Ministry
God has a way of getting me to the path He set up for me in what I call the “backdoor.” He knows that if He tells me ahead of time what the plan is that He has for me, I will fight it. Not because I don’t believe His plan is the best plan for me but because I did not believe in myself enough to believe that He would be calling me onto the path I am on now.
I am where I am today because I said yes to taking a couple of classes needed for me to sit on the MAC board as a lay leader, and in one of those classes, the instructor assumed I was attending the class because I was going for Ordination. I laughed and said, “No.” That was all it took for the Holy Spirit to begin to open the door that I had closed years ago when God revealed that He was calling me into pastoral ministry, and I didn’t believe that I was enough to say yes.
After all, I’m a girl, and at that time in my life, I had never seen a woman serving in pastoral leadership. I am saying yes now so that my daughters, granddaughter, and nieces see that if God calls them to be a pastors, being a girl is not a reason to say no. He can and will use them mightily.
The Free Methodist Church
I was raised Free Methodist but honestly didn’t know much about what that meant or what being Free Methodist was. I did leave the denomination for a long time, and it was during that time away that I had a chance to learn who I was in Christ, what I truly believed and who I truly believed God to be.
When I returned to the FMC and began to learn more about the history of the FMC, John Wesley, and his ministry, and the foundations in which the Free Methodist Church was birthed, I realized that I have always been Wesleyan. I realized that when I thought I was running away from how I was raised, that during that time God was actually shaping me into someone who can truly embrace being Wesleyan and Free Methodist. I am proud of my history and my heritage.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I was coming back to the FMC to become an Ordained Elder, work for the Bishop, finish bible school, and apply for Seminary to work on getting a Master’s degree, but here I am. I said yes to whatever God had for me, and thankfully, that returned me to the Free Methodist Church.