Our Pastor

Rev. Teressa McConnell Sivers moved to the Wyoming Annual Conference in July of 2001 after graduating from Duke Divinity School of Duke University.  Pastor Teressa was appointed to First UMC Oneonta beginning her ministry with the church as of July 1, 2008. She served the Lakeville United Methodist Church in the northern Pocono region of Pennsylvania for the past seven years and was ordained as an elder in full connection in June of 2005. Prior to her ministry at Lakeville, Pastor Teressa served as a part-time associate pastor at Fletcher's Chapel UMC and then at Duke's Chapel UMC, both in the city of Durham, NC. She moved to Durham from Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she served in several capacities at Broadmoor UMC--youth counselor, outreach ministries, UMW, Adult Sunday School teacher.

The Pastor's first career was in mental health counseling and case management. She worked four years as a counselor in Mansfield, PA at a halfway house for the chronically mentally ill. She then served as the Director of Case Management for Bethany Village Retirement Center in Horseheads, NY (outside of Elmira).
In our Annual Conference, Pastor Teressa serves as the co-chairperson of the Annual Conference Worship Team with Rev. Rebekah Sweet, serves on the Shared Leadership Table, and has been active on the Pastor’s School planning team. She has taught several classes around the conference on worship, Sunday school ministries, and United Methodism.

Pastor Teressa is married to Douglas R. Sivers, a registered nurse and soon-to-be graduate of seminary at Drew University. Doug is employed as and Emergency Room RN at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown. Prior to the Sivers' move to Oneonta, he served as the director of staff development at Wayne Memorial Hospital and at the Hawley United Methodist Church in Hawley, PA as a part-time associate pastor of Emerging Ministries.

Pastor Teressa and Pastor Doug have two children: a daughter, Devyn, age 13, and a son, Aidan, age 8.