Senior Pastor

Pastor Vallory Williams

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt a spiritual connection to God.  While other children were playing games or watching TV, I remember sitting alone in the family car so I could pray,” says Pastor Vallory Williams. “My dream was to become a preacher, but the pastor at my family church in Texas told me God did not call girls into the ministry.”  He suggested she rethink her dream, so she did. For 30 years, she directed her energies toward helping people, working as a substance abuse counselor, a life skills trainer and counselor at a youth correction facility.  But the dream never faded and she finally decided to pursue her ministerial calling.  After completing an undergraduate degree in Health Sciences and Consumer Services from Texas Southern University, she moved to Kansas City to pursue a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Saint Paul’s School of Theology.

In order to cover the cost of tuition during her undergrad years in Texas, she worked as an associate pastor while attending school full time. After graduation and contemplating where to attend graduate school, she heard about an opportunity to serve as an interim pastor for three churches in small Missouri towns up near the Iowa border. Pastor Vallory learned quickly that she would be the only person of color in the three communities, but after a lot of praying and soul-searching decided it was what the Lord wanted her to do. What began as a six-month interim appointment, ended up lasting three years. “I would attend classes at Saint Paul’s Monday through Friday and then would drive 2½ hours to lead church services in Grant City, Sheridan and Denver every Sunday morning,” she recalls. “It was a grueling schedule, but I believed it was all part of the Lord’s plan.”

She spent her last year of seminary as pastor of a reconciling congregation in Kansas City, MO  In addition to these experiences, she had the privilege of being able to work with one of the only Native American UMC congregations in Kansas City.

After completing her Master’s Degree in 2010, she served an internship in a unique relationship between the First United Methodist Church and Zion Lutheran Church in The Dalles, Oregon.  The internship required her to spend 30 hours a week serving the Methodist church, 10 hours a week at the Lutheran church and five to ten hours a week in community service. The internship provided an opportunity not only to refine her pastoral gifts and graces, but also an opportunity to participate in the budding relationship between the Methodist and Lutheran churches.  In addition to teaching youth confirmation classes together, she exchanged pulpits with the Lutheran pastor once a month.

In July 2011, Pastor Vallory was appointed as Senior Pastor at Pathways United Methodist Church and relocated (with Angel, the heavenly cat) to Springfield. “Since I am new to this part of the state, I intend to spend the next few months exploring the region and getting to know the city.”  Pastor Vallory states that she is excited for both her future and the future of Pathways United Methodist Church.