Dunn Installation As Johnstown DS Set for June 20

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 The Rev. Alyce Weaver Dunn will be installed as Johnstown District Superintendent in a service at 6 p.m., Sunday, June 20 at Belmont UMC in Johnstown. 

 “I am looking forward to this new experience and all the opportunities that God will give me to be in ministry in a new way,” said Weaver Dunn, who has served the past seven years as pastor of Trinity UMC in Brackenridge. “I know that there are challenges that lie ahead, but I also know that if God opened the door, God will lead me through.”

 Dunn said she relies on God’s promise in Phillipians 4:13 –“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” The verse is inscribed on a bracelet she wears.   

 With administration and creative communication among her top three spiritual gifts, Dunn seems well-suited to serve as a district superintendent. However, she initially was concerned that her new appointment might prevent her from continuing two ministries she is especially passionate about: the music, art and creative drama camp at Wesley Woods; and the annual retreat for persons with disabilities at Olmsted Manor.

 Dunn said Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton encouraged her to stay involved with both.

 Camping has always been important to Dunn. “Between my sophomore and junior year of college, I was very interested in becoming a summer camp counselor because it was at Jumonville that I made a public profession of faith for the first time as a young teen. Back then, the staff rotated among all the camps. That summer 101 females applied for 14 positions. I was 15^th on the list and they said that if someone couldn’t take one of the jobs, I could have it.

 “But rather than wait, my friends all encouraged me to apply for one of the Conference ministerial internships –even though I said I was not interested in becoming a minister,” she explained..  Finally convinced, she applied and was accepted as an intern, and was assigned to serve at Salem UMC in Wexford, where the Rev. Howard Burrell was pastor.  

 “I told him very clearly on the first day that I was not interested in becoming a minister, she said.  “Within two weeks, I was sitting down at his desk telling him that I felt God calling me into ministry.”

 Dunn studied piano, organ and voice at Slippery Rock University and graduated as a music therapist, then headed for Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where she met her future husband, the Rev. Keith Dunn, on the first day of orientation.  It may not have been love at first sight, but by the end of their first year they were dating. Keith Dunn will serve as pastor of  Belmont United Methodist Church on July 1.

 Despite not landing that first summer job, camping remains a passion and Dunn has served for 20 years as dean of Music, Art and Creative Drama camp at Wesley Woods.

“Through the years, we have had hundreds of campers and a lot of them have become counselors and are like part of my family,” Weaver Dunn said.  “The camp allows me to stay connected with young people. I’m kind of spanning generations now and the camp helps me to keep up with youth of our day and allows me to connect with them. The experience and connection at camp is something you cannot replicate anywhere else.”

 The Olmsted retreat for persons with disabilities is especially meaningful to Dunn because it is the fulfillment of a vision.

 "Because of my background in music therapy, I was asked to serve on the Persons with Disabilities Ministry Team. I chaired it in the 1990s.  After Olmsted Manor’s accessible annex was built, we organized the retreat. It’s held the week after Labor Day and it has been an important part of my ministry.  A real community has been formed through the years and we really feel blessed by the opportunity to be in retreat and be spiritually refreshed.

Although Dunn turned over chairmanship of the committee about seven years ago, this fall she and her husband, the Rev. Keith Dunn will serve as retreat leaders for the third year.

“I look forward to it, both to energize me and allow me to use the gifts I have had my whole life -- music and working with people,” she said.

Dunn also has used her gifts well the past 10 years as a member of the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, where she served as the candidacy registrar and trained mentors before being elected secretary in 2008. It’s a job she said she’ll miss.

 Moving to the Johnstown District may feel a bit like heading into uncharted waters for Dunn, who has spent 21 of her 22 years in ministry on the Butler District, where she grew up and attended college. However, she said she feels an emotional connection to the Johnstown District. 

 “My uncle Jackson Gabany was pastor of Grove Ave. UMC for 11 years and during that time that parsonage was my second home. I have fond childhood memories of visiting on holidays and in the summers,” she explained.  “My aunt Aldene Gabany, who worked for many years with Operation Sunday School, lives in State College now and she’s very excited about my move.”

Dunn’s parents, Doris and the late Alvin Weaver, were key leaders of First UMC in Aliquippa when she was growing up. “If anything was happening at the church, we were there,” she said, adding that she was part of an active youth group. As a music student at Slippery Rock University from 1980-84, Dunn was involved at Slippery Rock UMC.  “We had a college singing group called Together and we sang at other churches and some Conference events,” she said.

 Dunn said she has been truly blessed with great mentors, including Burrell and the Rev. Glenn Kohlhepp, who was the senior pastor at First UMC in Rochester, her first appointment, and later was her district superintendent. “They have been very important people in my life.” 

 Sharing ministry with her husband Keith, currently serving as pastor of Oakmont UMC, has also been a special blessing for Dunn.  She went along last fall when he accompanied a group of young adults to the Exploration event in Texas as part of his role as BOOM recruitment chair. He also serves as Bible study leader at the Wesley Woods creative arts camp.

 Both Dunns are enthusiastic Pittsburgh sports fans. “I have been going to Pirate games since I was a child,” Alyce said. “I didn’t understand football, though, until Keith finally explained it to me.  Five years ago, I had a “conversion experience” and become a rabid Steeler fan.  The Dunns also attend Penguin hockey games.

 An avid reader of ministry-related books and novels, Dunn does the New York Times crossword puzzle every day. She’s even managed to complete the Sunday puzzle a few times. 

As she embarks on a new ministry track, Dunn said there is excitement, fear and joy, but “I know that God is going to provide.” The only downside, she said, is giving up her special relationships with the people of Trinity UMC in Brackenridge. “But they keep telling me that this is an opportunity to see what God can do next in my life!”