St. Andrew's By-the-Sea United Methodist Church

     With degrees from UCLA (BA-1978) and The Claremont School of Theology (M.Div.- 1983; D.Min.-1988), Dr. Ferris has served a variety of United Methodist Churches throughout the Southern California area since 1981.
In addition to her pastoral duties, Dr. Ferris has also served as the executive director of the Willmore Urban Center in Long Beach, providing tutoring, gang prevention, and youth leadership services to children and youth, and job-training services to adults.
     Dr. Ferris comes to us from Northridge UMC, where she turned the church around from a state of decline to growth and focus on children, youth, and family ministries.
     Dr. Ferris brings a passion for preaching and worship as the core event that binds the Christian community and equips it for service in the world. She believes that the church is called to equip its members to make God’s love known in the world in many ways. She believes that the vision for each church is discerned by attending to the gifts and graces that God has sent to the congregation through its people.
     A believer in spiritual gifts and equipping ministry, Dr. Ferris’ personal passions include engaging the church with its community in ways that make a difference. She asks, “Would our community miss us if we disappeared tomorrow?” She is also concerned that individuals find their way into a passionate and personal relationship with God.
     Her others interests include music (worship and otherwise), reading, travel, golf and, conveniently, looking at the ocean and being at the beach.

Email: Rev. Dr. Paula A. Ferris

Rev. Lucy Stafford-Lewis -

Associate Pastor

Rev. Lucy Stafford-Lewis is our Associate Pastor, overseeing the educational, nurture and outreach ministries of the Church. She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), but came to St. Andrew's for this position which emphasizes Family Life and Ministries. Lucy graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, and has served churches and chaplaincies in Pennsylvania, New York, and now California. Her husband, John, is a leader of our worship band, and together they have two children, Rachel and Tate.

Email: Rev. Lucy Stafford-Lewis

Rev. Roy Behnke - Minister to Seniors

Rev. Roy Behnke is our Minister to Seniors. He has served as a nursing home administrator, a hospital chaplain, an Associate Pastor of Congregational Care, a Wycliffe Missionary, and a hospice chaplain. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Theology. Roy and his wife Sandy, our church accountant, live in San Juan Capistrano. They both love singing, music and are avid readers. They love to travel and have been all over the world.

Email: Rev. Roy Behnke

Matthew Padgett -

Director of Youth Ministries

Matt is a recent graduate from the University of California at Santa Barbara where he majored in biological sciences. Inspired by his own childhood bout with cancer, it is his dream to attend medical school and become a physician who specializes in treating children with cancer.
While applying for med school, Matt felt a strong call to assume the position of youth director. He has spent the past five years building his faith and growing closer to God through the brotherhood of Alpha Gamma Omega, the Christ-centered fraternity. As a young man he was challenged by the rigors of college life, studies, and Christian values. Matt emerged from college confident in his faith, craving fellowship and God's Word, and ready to participate in a church community. He is honored to be working with our youth.

Email: Matthew Padgett

Emily Bredthauer -

Children's Ministries Director

Emily Bredthauer is our director of Children’s Ministries. She is a life-long United Methodist. Emily holds a Masters in Social Work with an emphasis on work with families and children from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Emily enjoys music, gardening, craft projects, cooking, writing, and spending time with friends and family. Emily is married to Greg and they have one son, Alton.

Email: Emily Bredthauer

Chris McCann - Director of Evangelism

Chris is the Director of Evangelism, overseeing the Invitation and Welcome ministries. She holds a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education and her undergraduate work was in Sociology and Psychology. After a career in retail management, Chris is bringing her leadership skill set and her journey of faith to this position in order to share God’s message of love to more seekers. A native Californian, she has lived in the Bay Area and the Central Valley; she relocated to southern California when she and her husband, Keith, got married in St. Andrew’s in 2003. They have two adult children, Keith’s son Michael and Chris’s daughter Emily. Chris has a passion for her family and lifelong friends, as well as for horseback riding. She also enjoys reading, cooking and making their house a “home.”

Email: Chris McCann

Stephanie Feder - Director of Music

A Chicago area native, Stephanie received a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University in Vocal Performance and Music Education. She played on Chicago stages in Funny Girl, Mame, South Pacific, and Hello Dolly and capped off her Chicago career on the main stage of Chicago’s Symphony Center in Richard Adler’s Pajama Game. She has also won numerous awards for her opera and jazz solo performances. She served as associate conductor of the San Francisco Bach Choir before moving to Italy to teach and study in Siena and Florence. Upon her return to the states she relocated to Orange County to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in Choral Conducting. Performance highlights at UCI include the role of Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, performed with the UCI symphony orchestra. Passionate about performing and teaching, she also possesses a fondness for travel, having independently explored such remote places as Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia and, most recently, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia! Stephanie currently resides in Costa Mesa with her shih tzu puppy, Ella.

Email: Stephanie Feder

Kimberly Reese ─ Administrative Assistant
Kim is a graduate of Dental Careers Institute. She was born in the state of Maine and raised as a Baptist. Kim has served as a Youth Leader and a Deaconess for the Greenfield Alliance Church in Massachusetts. She has also served as a board member of Christian Women’s Fellowship in Twentynine Palms, California and was the Chairman of Volunteers for Navy Marine Corps Relief Society aboard MCAGCC Marine Corps base in Twentynine Palms. In addition to her administrative duties, she currently serves as the Personnel Officer for San Clemente Military Family Outreach. Kim is married to a career Marine, Jensen and they have three wonderful children. Kim’s love for the Lord and heart to serve has brought her here to St. Andrew’s.

Email: church office

Susan Anderson - Wedding Coordinator

Susan has been a member of the St. Andrew’s church family for eight years. Susan and her husband Curt have been blessed with two wonderful children, daughter Alyssa, who is 14, and son David, who just turned 11. Weddings and organizing events have always been of interest to Susan and she is thrilled to have the opportunity to assist couples in the planning of their very important day.

Email: Susan Anderson