Steven Hamrick
Lead Pastor
I was born in Bluefield, WV and lived the first part of my life in Princeton. I graduated from Princeton Senior High School in 1982 and Concord University (College at the time) in 1986 with a degree in accounting. I passed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam and worked as a CPA in public accounting in my hometown of Princeton until 2002.
Late in 2001, I sensed a call of God on my life to the work of ordained ministry and I quit my job as a CPA to attend Asbury Theological Seminary as a full-time student beginning in the fall of 2002. I graduated with a Masters of Divinity (M.Div) degree in May 2005 and was commissioned as a provisional elder during the 2005 session of Annual Conference. My first appointment was to St. Luke’s UMC in Craigsville where I served from 2005-2010. I was ordained as an Elder in Full Connection during the 2008 Annual Conference. In 2010, I was appointed to Community of Grace UMC in Huntington where I served from 2010-2017. Community of Grace was chartered as a new church in our conference on Nov 14, 2011. It was during my time in Huntington when I met and married the love of my life, Paula Jo Dundas. In 2017, I was appointed to United Methodist Temple-Beckley and Paula and I lived and served there until June 2021. I began my tenure as the lead pastor of Calvary UMC (Ripley) July 1, 2021.
I have previously served at the conference level on the Committee of Finance and Administration (CF&A) and the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (BoOM) and I am currently serving on the Board of Pensions. I have served at the district level on the District Committee of Ministry (DCOM) and various other roles, including teaching about church and clergy finances and taxation.
I love worship and preaching and teaching and always seek to do those things well. I have a passion for mission work and have traveled to Haiti numerous times as well as locations within WV and other areas of the United States for disaster relief and recovery. I have served as the chaplain to a volunteer fire department in the past. I also have a passion of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and seek to do that in ways that honor and glorify God and connect with the people of the community.
Paula and I have one adult daughter, April, who resides in Pittsburgh, PA. We also have two cats—Charlie (Charlene) and Paisley, two dogs—Finn and Kona, and two horses—Roscoe and Duke. I am an outdoors enthusiast who likes to hunt, fish, play golf, ride our side-by-side, ride horses, and raise a garden.
Late in 2001, I sensed a call of God on my life to the work of ordained ministry and I quit my job as a CPA to attend Asbury Theological Seminary as a full-time student beginning in the fall of 2002. I graduated with a Masters of Divinity (M.Div) degree in May 2005 and was commissioned as a provisional elder during the 2005 session of Annual Conference. My first appointment was to St. Luke’s UMC in Craigsville where I served from 2005-2010. I was ordained as an Elder in Full Connection during the 2008 Annual Conference. In 2010, I was appointed to Community of Grace UMC in Huntington where I served from 2010-2017. Community of Grace was chartered as a new church in our conference on Nov 14, 2011. It was during my time in Huntington when I met and married the love of my life, Paula Jo Dundas. In 2017, I was appointed to United Methodist Temple-Beckley and Paula and I lived and served there until June 2021. I began my tenure as the lead pastor of Calvary UMC (Ripley) July 1, 2021.
I have previously served at the conference level on the Committee of Finance and Administration (CF&A) and the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (BoOM) and I am currently serving on the Board of Pensions. I have served at the district level on the District Committee of Ministry (DCOM) and various other roles, including teaching about church and clergy finances and taxation.
I love worship and preaching and teaching and always seek to do those things well. I have a passion for mission work and have traveled to Haiti numerous times as well as locations within WV and other areas of the United States for disaster relief and recovery. I have served as the chaplain to a volunteer fire department in the past. I also have a passion of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and seek to do that in ways that honor and glorify God and connect with the people of the community.
Paula and I have one adult daughter, April, who resides in Pittsburgh, PA. We also have two cats—Charlie (Charlene) and Paisley, two dogs—Finn and Kona, and two horses—Roscoe and Duke. I am an outdoors enthusiast who likes to hunt, fish, play golf, ride our side-by-side, ride horses, and raise a garden.
