Church staff

Steve Creel

Senior Pastor

Steve became a Christian as a seven year old. He has been following Jesus since then. He believes that Christians and their churches are meant to minister to the needs of the communities in which God has planted them. Steve was ordained in 1990. He has pastored four churches since that time. Learning from each appointment and always seeking to serve Christ better, he is excited to be in Visalia and helping to build an outwardly focused congregation. Steve is married to Pastor Marilyn Creel, who is ordained as a Presbyterian minister and leads a church in Three Rivers, California. They love living in Central California and have been blessed with three grandchildren.

Corazón Moran

Associate Pastor, Spanish Language Ministries

Born in the city of Durango, Mexico, Corazon met the Lord Jesus Christ in the House of Life and Peace Methodist Church in her hometown. Since then, she received a call to pastoral minister and obey the voice of God our Lord, entering the Seminary Methodist John Wesley. After serving for ten years in one of the conferences of Mexico, Corazon was invited to work in the California/Nevada Conference in the central valley of California with Hispanic ministry. Corazon is married and has four children. Her children serve as her motivation to love and serve others.

Don Roulsten

Senior Adult Pastor

Don serves as the Senior Adult Pastor at The Methodist Church. Prior to that, he served as Pastor of Grand Avenue United Methodist Church in Porterville, California, and Weldon UMC and Highland Chapel UMC in the Kern River Valley. Don is a graduate of Chico State and Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. While attending Asbury Seminary, he met and married his wife Donita.

Joanna Sanchez

Business Operations Manager

Joanna returned to Visalia after graduating from UC Santa Barbara. While in Santa Barbara, she worked at a preschool under the umbrella of a local church. There, she held the positions of administrative assistant and substitute teacher. At The Methodist Church, she assists with managing the facilities and is the administrative assistant to the Senior Pastor. She is multilingual in Italian, Spanish, and English, and has traveled throughout Italy.

Kristi Hampton

Financial Secretary

Kristi received her MBA from California State University, Dominguez Hills where she studied business management and accounting. Her occupational experience comes from the tribal casino industry where she spent over 17 years performing various tasks associated with management, accounting, payroll, human resources, and internal auditing.

As part of her role as Financial Secretary for The Methodist Church, Kristi maintains all aspects of the church finances including accounts payable, contribution tracking, payroll, and finance reporting. Kristi is married with 3 children. She came to Visalia from Southern California in December 2015 when her husband accepted a job transfer in the area and has been a regular attendee of The Methodist Church since 2017.

Kelly Deditius

Program Director of Care Ministries & Small Groups

Kelly has served the Methodist Church in several capacities for over 10 years. She is currently serving as Director of Care Ministries, where she oversees and administrates a variety of ministry programs: DivorceCare & DC4K, GriefShare, Marriage Oneness, Visitation Ministries, Extend the Table, and Drop in the Bucket programs, to name a few. It is an honor and a privilege for her to serve God and His people here at The Methodist Church.

Debbie Petty

Sunday Children's Coordinator

Debbie has called The Methodist Church “Home” for her whole life. She grew up in the church and has served as a volunteer in many areas. Debbie has been teaching in Visalia for over twenty years and has served as the Director of Children’s Sunday School at The Methodist Church since 2014. She strives to make Sunday School a place where all who come feel loved and accepted just as they are. It is a source of joy for her to watch children learn and grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Experience God's Presence

Two Services Every Sunday

Early Worship Service 9:15am (English)

Semilla Servicio de Adoración y Alabanza 11:00am (Spanish)

We are very intentional in our belief that a church should reflect the community that God has planted it in. We are open to all people and our church works hard to assure that everyone, no matter their circumstance, feels welcome and loved.

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