Board and Committee Nominees

The following candidates are nominated for the available positions within our conference boards and committees. It’s natural that you might not be familiar with every individual, and you might have questions about each candidate’s qualifications. For more information on a specific candidate, please contact the Nominating Committee.

Vote

Finance Committee

Brasington, Jennifer

Lake Elsinore, The Lamb's Fellowship

Jenn Brasington has spent more than 30 years at The Lamb’s Fellowship, first in Temecula and then at the plant in Lake Elsinore after a few years on the mission field. She currently serves as the local BOA Treasurer and on staff as the Administrator at Lambs. Her accounting and administrative background and experience have been foundational to her work roles and ministry.
One of Jenn’s heart passions is to help better church financial processes and understanding of best practices for Kingdom use. She truly enjoys being a resource in these areas. Jenn has been around the FMCSC family since the early 1990s and has had the opportunity to serve on staff previously at Lambs, on the conference BOA, and then later as the conference Financial Administrator. Other Board terms include previous seats with Cast A Shadow and as Treasurer of Empowering Lives International.

Jones, Doug

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Free Methodist Church

Doug Jones and his wife Christa have been members of the Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara since moving to California in 2007. For the seven years prior to their move, they were members of the Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church in Michigan.
Doug currently serves as chair of the FMCSB Property/Finance Committee as well as on the Local Board of Administration. He is also a member of the FMCSC Finance Committee. Professionally, Doug has been in Christian Higher Education for the past 26 years, the last 17 of which have been as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Westmont College.

Nielsen, Mary

Escondido, The Foundry

Mary Nielsen has been an active member of The Foundry Community Church since 2007. She has worked as the Finance Director at The Foundry since 2010. Mary leads the Food Pantry Ministry, which started in 2014 serving 15 families each week and is currently serving over 300 families each week.

Ortiz, Gerardo

National City, Emmanuel

After serving for 16 years on the FMC Mexican Conference, Gerardo Ortiz was transferred to the FMCSC in August 2002. Before three years as one of the assistant pastors in Santa Ana FMC, he was assigned as the pastor of the National City, Emmanuel FMC since August 2005.
Gerardo has served as part of the MEG, MAC, and BOA. He has also served as one of the assistants for the Regional Superintendent under pastor Guillermo Flores and now under pastor Refugio Sanchez. Recently, he is serving as part of the Finance Committee under pastor Ruben Luna. Gerardo believes that it is an honor to be invited to serve the Lord through the FMCSC (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Rittenhouse, John

Garden Grove, Living Spring Church

‭John has been in the FMCSC for 28 years, 10 as a lay leader and 18 as the lead pastor of Living Spring Church in Garden Grove. He has taught the History & Polity and Wesleyan Theology classes and has served on the BOA, Management Group, Property & Finance Committee, and MEG Board.
Prior to Living Spring, John spent 16 years in the import/export industry. He received his undergraduate degree from Westmont College in Business & Economics and his Masters of Pastoral Studies in Leadership Development from Azusa Pacific University.
John has been married to his wife Lisa for 34 years, and they have 3 adult children. Audrey teaches biology in Santa Barbara, Emily teaches English in Korea, and their son Jesse works in cybersecurity in Santa Barbara. John and Lisa live in Cypress, CA with their dog Atticus.