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Rev. Dr. Kelly Bender, Senior Pastor  
Dr. Kelly Bender Senior Pastor has served as Senior Pastor of Paradise Valley United Methodist Church since July 1, 2001. Prior to his appointment at Paradise Valley, he served for nine years as Senior Pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, where he preached "live" on Sundays to thousands of viewers across most of Kansas via television. He is a native Kansan, raised in Ulysses, and a 1968 graduate of Southwestern College, Winfield, from which he received both the Masterbuilder and Foundation Builder awards.
Pastor Kelly is a 1971 graduate of St. Paul School of Theology. He is a Certified Family Life Educator, holds both an M.S. in Family and Child Development and a Ph.D. in Family Life Education from Kansas State University.
He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity honorary degree from Baker University in 1990.
From 1973-1981, he served as pastor of College Avenue UMC in Manhattan, KS; from 1981-1989 as Senior Pastor of Countryside UMC in Topeka; and from 1989-1992 he served as Senior Pastor of First UMC in Olathe, Kansas.
Pastor Kelly has led numerous workshops around the Midwest. In 1985, he was a guest lecturer at a theological and evangelization conference in Poland. In 1987, he returned to Poland as a guest preacher of the Polish Methodist Annual Conference. During the summer of 1989, Pastor Kelly and his family participated in a ministerial exchange with a pastor and his family from Bristol, England.
He served as chairperson of the Kansas East Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. He was elected by his clergy peers as a 1992 General Conference delegate from the Kansas East Annual Conference, and as a 1996 and 2000 Jurisdictional Conference delegate from Kansas West.
In 2001 he was awarded the Community Enrichment Award by the Sedgwick County Commission, Wichita, Kansas for his leadership in downtown redevelopment.
Pastor Kelly was the 2003 recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award, Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri.
He served as Trustee at Southwestern College from 1988-2000 and is currently serving as Trustee at St. Paul School of Theology.
In July, 2004, he was the "Preacher of the Week" at the Chautauqua Institute, Chautauqua, New York.
In August, 2004 he presented a paper at the Oxford Roundtable, Oxford University, England on "The Role of Religion in Public Education: Teaching A Pluralistic Democracy.
Pastor Kelly was selected to preach from the historic pulpit of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on August 21, 2005 . He represented his native state of Kansas as part of the National Cathedral's Major State Day. You can view a video of his sermon from this link. Audio is available from this link: .
He was the 2006 recipient of the Martin Luther King Diversity Champion Award from the Town of Paradise Valley.
In October, 2006 he participated on a PVUMC Mission Team to Guatemala, in September, 2007 to Afghanistan.
Kelly is married to Vickie, an early childhood educator. Both were delegates to the World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England in July 2001. They have two young adult, married daughters, Brianna and Sundee, and four grandchildren.
Kelly's brother, Gary, is well known to sports fans. He is a sportscaster, currently with the Phoenix Suns.
Rev. Andrea Andress, Associate,
Children and Family Ministries
Reverend Andrea is responsible for Children and Family Ministries. She works closely with adults in ministry to, for and with children, and teaches
classes on baptism, communion and helping children deal with grief. Andrea is particularly interested in the process of spiritual development in children.
Andrea holds a B.A. in Religion and German from McMurray College in Abilene, TX, as well as a Master's in Religious Education from Asbury Theological
Seminary. Andrea is certified in Christian Education and was ordained as a Diaconal Minister in the Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the United
Methodist Church in 1979. She was ordained as a Permanent Deacon in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference in 2000.
Andrea has been Director of Christian Education in the United Methodist Church since 1979, and has been at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church
since June 1998. Before coming to Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, Andrea was director of Christian Education at First UMC in San Marcos,
Texas, for 12 years.
Spiritual Direction:
In 1993-95 Andrea attended Shalem Institute in Spiritual Direction. She offers spiritual direction opportunities for individuals and groups as
requested. Shalem Institute is from the contemplative tradition.(www.shalem.org)
Enneagram:
In 2005 she became a certified teacher with the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition. The Enneagram is a personality and spiritual development tool
that gives people insight into how they relate to God and others and what keeps getting in the way of those relationships. It is a valuable tool leading
to spiritual growth. Individual and class instruction is available. (www.enneagramworldwide.com)
Andrea is a mom and a wife, and enjoys working in her yard, reading and creating through crafts and puzzles.
Rev. Kathleen Athey, Associate Pastor
Kathleen Athey serves as the associate pastor who guides Adult Education, Missions and
Singles ministries. She is a commissioned elder in the Desert Southwest Conference of the United
Methodist Church. Kathleen earned her Master of Divinity degree at Claremont School of Theology in
Claremont, California. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston and
a Masters of Education degree from Arizona State University. While completing her seminary studies,
Kathleen worked on the staffs of Dove of the Desert UMC, First United Methodist Church of Phoenix, and New Song UMC.
Her passions in ministry include lifelong Christian education, spiritual formation, and using those
experiences to share God’s love beyond the walls of the church.
She entered ministry after working for eighteen years as an Organizational Development Specialist in
business and industry based in Phoenix. Much of her work focused on looking at how elements in
organizations work together, how the work of the organization gets done, and how the people in
organizations interact with each other. She believes that it is not just what we do, but how
we do it that makes an organization successful in the eyes of God.
Kathleen is married to Wally Athey, Communications Coordinator at PVUMC.
They are parents to daughter, Susan Weedman. Susan and her husband, David, have three children,
Andrew, Steven, and Rebecca. Kathleen spends as much of her free time as possible playing with
her grandchildren. She believes playing as children play is a great way to grow closer to God
and to increase our creativity.
Dr. Tom Rough, Administrative Pastor
Dr. Tom Rough has served as Administrative Pastor of Paradise Valley United Methodist Church since December 1, 2005. Prior to his coming to Paradise Valley, he served twice as Superintendent in the Indiana area. His most recent church was Senior Pastor at High Street United Methodist Church, Muncie, Indiana. He retired after 46 years of ministry in North Indiana.
Tom grew up in Michigan and holds degrees from Indiana Wesleyan and Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. The University of Indianapolis awarded him a Doctor of Divinity in 1991.
Pastor Rough, in addition to parish ministry, has been very active in the communities where he has served. Community service includes serving as president of the Board of Education, Plymouth Community Schools; president of Rotary; chair of the Salvation Army Board; Chairman of the Police Merit Commission in Michigan City; United Way Board of Directors in South Bend; director at Michigan City Memorial, Gary Methodist, Merrillville Methodist hospitals; Ball Hospital Institutional Review Board; Indianapolis Methodist Hospital Reoganization Task Force; Trustee University of Indianapolis; president of the Oakwood Foundation; director Oakwood Leadership Academy Foundation; and chair of the North Indiana Cabinet twice. He has served as an instructor in the Academy for Community Leadership in Muncie and also as guest lecturer at Ball State University.
He was named Sagamore of the Wabash by Indiana Governor Robert Orr and Distinguished Trustee by the University of Indianapolis. He was nominated and endorsed for the Episcopacy by the North Indiana Conference.
Pastor Rough and his wife, Janet, are the parents of two children, Thomas Edward, who is married to Lisa, and lives in Carefree; and Elizabeth Crispen, who is married to Rodney, and lives in Yorktown, Virginia. They have three grandchildren, Nicola Rough and Livia and Ian Crispen.
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