Kelley M Schanely
Phone (724) 983-0200
Mailing Address
348 Buhl Blvd
Sharon,
PA
16146
Bio
Kelley is a native of Eighty-four, PA and a graduate of Ringgold High School. As a youth she was active in 4-H and showed dairy goats for several years at the Washington County Fair. She graduated Penn State University in 1996 with double major in Journalism and Political Science. Her home church is Edwards Chapel UMC in the Washington District. She held various leadership roles in her home church such as Youth Sunday School teacher and Mission Committee Chairperson.
Prior to attending seminary, she worked in advertising and marketing for the Pittsburgh City Paper, Market Place Print (adverting company), the Washington Observer Reporter, and the Greensburg Tribune-Review.
She attended seminary at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio and graduated with a M.Div. with a specialization in Church Leadership in 2009. She was the Co-Chair of the seminary’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) and helped to bring the Shower of Stoles Project to campus. During her seminary career she served as Youth Pastor at Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, OH and as a Local Licensed Pastor of the Darby Plains Larger Parish (Milford Center UMC and Unionville Center UMC) in the West Ohio Annual Conference. She was commissioned a Provisional Elder in 2009 and Ordained in 2011.
She has served the Redstone Parish (Little Redstone, Newell and Star Junction UMCs) in the Connellsville District, Dubois: Mt. Zion in the Indian District, Washington: First UMC in the Washington Distric and is currently serving the Sharon Cooperative Parish. She has served on various committees on the district and Conference levels and currently serves as Co-Chair for the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (BOM) and also serves on the Conference Zimbabwe Partnership committee. She participated in the Zimbabwe Immersion Program for six weeks in 2014, and in 2017 was blessed to return to Zimbabwe serving as an adult leader for ZIM Camp with amazing youth from around the Annual Conference.
Kelley’s guiding scripture is Micah 6:8 and she most identifies with the Parable of the Prodigal Son. She has a love and passion for small congregations and believes small congregations can do mighty things by the power of the Holy Spirit. While she has learned to not to take herself too seriously, she does take the church’s mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ very seriously. She believes one of the most important roles of a pastor is come alongside of the laity to equip and build them up, and to help them identify their gifts for ministry so that they can in turn be disciples who make disciples who make disciples.
Kelley is married to Mark celebrated their 20th anniversary on June 14 (coincidentally their favorite holiday is Flag Day). They have a pit-bull Izzi. Izzi is a rescue and bring great joy to Kelley and Mark’s lives. Kelley and Mark’s interests include Star Wars, Doctor Who, and the opera (Mark is a big Renee Fleming fan). Kelley also enjoys traveling, cooking, and walking in the park. .
