Dr. Douglas Vernon
Senior Pastor
Douglas Vernon was appointed to Kalamazoo First on July 1, 2000. He served
this church as the Youth Pastor 26 years ago. Doug came to Kalamazoo First
after serving nine years as the Senior Pastor at Northville United Methodist
Church in the Detroit Annual Conference. He is married to Jane who recently
retired from teaching. They have four grown children. Doug's previous
appointments included Stockbridge UMC, Birmingham First UMC, Church of
the Straits in Mackinaw City, and St. Timothy UMC in Detroit.
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Rev. Sandy Elfring
Parish Visitor
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Sandy Elfring has been serving Kalamazoo First since 1996. She is a graduate
of Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan and is ordained in
the Reformed Church of America.Previously, she was the hospital chaplain
for 18 years at Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, MI.
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Rev. Julie Kline
Pastor of Youth Ministries
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Julie’s responsibilities include the leadership of our creative/emerging worship and the direction
of our programs of youth ministries. She has come full circle with her return to First United Methodist Church of
Kalamazoo, as she grew up in this church, graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School, and received her bachelor’s
degree from Michigan State University in psychology. She later went on to obtain her full ordination in the
United Church of Christ. She is excited about the ministry opportunities here at FUMC and believes that her position
will allow her to pursue her passion for creative ministry that calls all participants to engage in an ongoing
relationship with our Creator and to be the hands and feet of Christ.
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Rev. Julie Dix
Pastor of Spiritual Formation
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An ordained elder in the West Michigan Conference of the UMC, Julie is
a graduate of Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. She has over a decade
of experience as a parish pastor (Portage Chapel Hill UMC, Wayland UMC,
and Grand Rapids First UMC) as well as chaplaincy at Clark Retirement
Community and Spectrum Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids. Working with
our Nurture Team, the Children and Family Ministries Team, and the clergy
and minister of music, Julie will offer leadership in strengthening and
broadening our ministry to children, youth and adults.
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Michael Palmer
Diaconal Minister of Music
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Michael Palmer began serving as Minister of Music here at First in 2003.
Prior to moving back to Kalamazoo, Michael served congregations in Eaton Rapids [Michigan],
Gainesville [Florida] and Westwood UMC [here in Kalamazoo].
Michael is a graduate of Western Michigan University, The University of Southern California [with degrees in Choral Studies and Voice Performance]
and The Methodist Theological School of Ohio.
Consecrated as a Diaconal Minister during the 2000 West Michigan Annual Conference, Michael has served as Choral,
Hand Bell and Worship Design Clinician at the local, conference and jurisdictional levels;
Worship Design Coordinator for local, regional and national conferences - currently serving as
Worship Design Chair for the 2008 North Central Jurisdictional Conference and the Board of Directors for the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music.
Michael and his family reside here in Kalamazoo.
For more information on the Music Ministry of
First United Methodist Church, click here.
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