PASTOR LILY JONES

Hello, my name is Lily Jones and I’m Pastor here at Olive Crest UMC. We are a small but resilient bunch who love our community and Jesus. Growing up I used to tell everybody that Jesus was my best friend (I was a bit awkward as a kid)! Faith has always been important to me and my family, and I began to feel a call to ministry at a young age. Olive Crest is the place where I first heard that call and the community that nurtured and guided me as I grew in my faith. When it was time for college I decided to go to Dakota Wesleyan University where I majored in Christian Leadership & Theatre and minored in Creative Writing & Behavioral Sciences. While I was there, I learned a lot about the Bible, Church History, & Theology, but I also got to put what I was learning into practice by participating and leading in campus ministry activities and working in a local church. After college I knew I wanted to serve but wasn’t ready to settle down into seminary just yet. So, I decided to serve abroad with the Global Mission Fellows Program and went to live in Northern Ireland for two years! When I returned to my community I was unsure of the path forward so I returned to worship in my home church and began working at a local non-profit. When Olive Crest suddenly found itself without a pastor in early 2023, I found God calling or rather pushing me into the role. It started out as just temporarily filling in and then grew into something much more. I have been apart of Olive Crest my whole life and it has always been an important part of me and my relationship with God, and so I find it my great privilege to serve this community, that has given so much to me. Over the past year my faith has been reawakened, challenged, and strengthened through answering this call that God has placed on my life, and I am increasingly glad for this community and the opportunity to learn what it means to pastor and guide, to love on and minister to God’s beloved children in this place. It is my belief that God is always at work in us, no matter our age, capacity, number, or perceived talents; His Holy Spirit is able to move in and through us, to grow and transform us and this world into God’s Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is alive and moving at Olive Crest as it reaches out into this community in new ways, as we take our next steps in our faith journey as the body of Christ, and I am blessed to be a part of what God is doing in this place!