Staff at Harvard-Epworth
Rev. Mitch Hay & Rev. Barb Lemmel
Co-Pastors
Terry Halco
Music Director
Terry has over 25 years' experience in church positions in the Boston area. He has previously served as music director at Grace Episcopal Church in Everett, First Presbyterian Church in Brookline, Christ Lutheran Church in Belmont, and Payson Park UCC in Belmont.
Terry worked for ten years in the Harvard University Library system, first in the Law School Library and then in the Loeb Music Library.
He was born and raised in northern Ohio, and received his musical education at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, at the New England Conservatory, and at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
Adam McAllister
Director of University Student and Young Adult Ministry
Adam is entering into his second year at Boston University, pursuing his Masters of Divinity on the Global and Community Engagement track. He is currently shifting into ministry and hopes to pursue a vocation within Campus Ministry. He currently lives in Medford and moved from Southwest Virginia with his partner, Alex, who is attending Boston Conservatory and their two dogs, Amos and Thatcher.
He holds a Bachelors in Music from Bluefield College, Masters of Arts in Worship Studies from Liberty University, and a Masters of Arts in Music History from Radford University. He has taught in person and now currently online at Ferrum College, a Methodist school in Virginia in the music and theatre departments. He comes from the Holston Conference in the United Methodist Church and holds membership at Grove United Methodist Church in Radford, Virginia. He is incredibly excited and blessed to find a Methodist church in which he can call home and to work to enrich the spiritual lives of the young adults and collegiate students in the Cambridge area!
Flynn Fernandes
Church Administrator
Flynn Fernandes is the Office Administrator at Harvard-Epworth UMC. He also serves as the Director of Faith Formation for Holy Trinity Parish, Quincy, in the Archdiocese of Boston. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Flynn came to the United States to pursue higher education. For many years, he worked as a project and program manager for different firms in the healthcare technology and services sector. During the evenings, he volunteered as a middle and high school catechist for his parish church. Flynn earned a Master of Theological Studies from Boston University School of Theology, as well as the licentiate and doctorate in sacred theology from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He has taught courses in theology at Emmanuel College.
George Savage
Facilities Manager
Rev. Natalie Hill
MIT Chaplain and Deacon
Natalie holds a B.A. and M.Div. from Boston University and an M.S.W. from Simmons College. She has worked as a clinical social worker for many years, and has specialized in eating disorders for most of her career. Her ministry is an extension of this work, with a specific focus on counteracting societal forces that objectify or vilify the body by drawing on the Incarnation, the promise of resurrection, and other aspects of the Christian tradition to help people experience a transformed and transforming relationship with their own bodies.
To fulfill this mission, Natalie also serves as founding director of Seaspring, an urban counseling, retreat, and community engagement center. Seaspring offers individual and group counseling alongside programs to foster spiritual growth and missional service.
Rev. Karen Skalla
Deacon
Rev. Karen Skalla was ordained as a Deacon in the Methodist Church in 2020 after completing seminary at Boston University School of Theology. Her first appointment as a Deacon is currently at Silver Bay YMCA Retreat and Conference Center on Lake George in Silver Bay, New York in the Adirondacks.
She serves as Chaplain of their Spiritual Life Center. Chaplaincy training was done through Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center while she was a Nurse Practitioner for nearly 30 years. Karen has a very broad fulltime ministry now at Silver Bay which includes: worship planning; program planning; meeting with staff and guests for formal Spiritual Direction; pastoral care; support of the Respite Ministry through the Spiritual Life Center; and helping with the Teen Center.
Her secondary appointment is with Harvard Epworth Community Church where she periodically uses her background to offer adult forums and supply preaching as needed. In addition, she has been part of a weekly online worship community called “Faithwaze” at www.faithwaze.com for many years and leads as co-pastor. Karen lives in Vermont with her husband and has two young adult daughters of whom she is very proud. She is passionate about her horses and dogs, and enjoys being outside hiking and snowshoeing as well as reading, art of all kinds, and photography. She is delighted bring all these skills to be a part of Harvard Epworth.