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New Minister Profile:
Rev. Ginny McDaniel and Rev. Nada Sellers
First Congregational Church, Granby

by Drew Page

Rev. Ginny McDaniel

GRANBY (1/25/2012) -- Ginny McDaniel and Nada Sellers were searching for a church that looked to the future and would consider new ways of becoming a church. At First Congregational Church UCC of Granby, they found that church, through very different paths.

Rev. McDaniel, the new Senior Pastor at First Church, describes herself as "cradle UCC." Her grandfather was a UCC pastor. She felt her calling while attending a family week conference at Star Island Family Retreat and Conference Center off the coast of New Hampshire. She attended seminary at Andover Newton Theological School and served in several Massachusetts churches before coming to Connecticut.

Rev. Sellers, the new Associate Pastor at First Church, is a product of Quaker schools in Philadelphia. She attended seminary at Fuller Theological Seminary in California and worked as a chaplain in hospice through a Mennonite society. Later she was a pastor for the Church of the Brethren in Pasadena. Sellers did not serve a UCC church until she went to North Amherst Congregational, where she co-served with her spouse, Patricia.

Rev. Nada Sellers

Both McDaniel and Sellers were drawn to Granby for similar reasons. They were intrigued by the church's recent and thorough discernment process. According to Sellers, Granby has reshaped its ministry team and has real potential to transform into something entirely new. McDaniel saw the same spirit in the congregation and noted that Granby has accepted that the church cannot go back to the way things were in the past. They have chosen to move forward and explore what it means to be a church today.

The three-way match between McDaniel, Sellers, and the Granby congregation appears destined to succeed. McDaniel has experience with transitioning churches. She has a Ph.D. from Columbia, where she studied transforming traditional churches from inward-centered to outward-focused. She was also part of a church in Lowell, Massachusetts, where three separate congregations worshiped together, giving her insight into what hospitality truly means.

New Ministers' Profiles An occasional series welcoming those new to serving in the Connecticut Conference UCC.

Sellers also comes from a unique experience where she was approached by a church to co-pastor the congregation as interim with her wife, Patricia. The two served equally, dividing roles and sharing responsibilities. Later they were called to serve together as the settled pastors. They even shared the role after the birth of their daughter in 2007.

Rev. McDaniel and Rev. Sellers agree on another important factor. McDaniel started in October; Sellers began in December. Both see the proximity of their new roles as a positive challenge that fits their new church well. According to Sellers, First Church has felt like they have been in transition for a long time. For McDaniel and Seller, getting up and running quickly is a joint task, and they are exciting about the possibilities.

Drew Page is Media Assistant for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ.