The Mission Central Parish is a cooperative of eleven United Methodist Churches in Harford County and Baltimore County, MD, working together to better serve our communities and make disciples of Jesus Christ. The Parish is led by our teams of pastors who are also joined by a contingent of retired pastors and lay speakers who assist in leading worship at many of our churches. Together we work to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!
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Our Parish is focused on reaching out in love and service as we strive to:
SERVE
Expand community engagement and impact.
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LEAD
Increase mission to reach more of the least, the last, and the lost.
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HOPE
Empower people to move into deeper relationship with Christ.
OUR PASTORS
The pastors of the Mission Central Parish provide the overall leadership within our eleven churches. They care for the pastoral needs, administration, programming, and mission outreach planning. Pastor Karin and Pastor Danny are the lead appointed pastors who oversee the general administration and leadership of the churches. They are joined by a team of part-time pastors that assist in different areas of the life of the church.
Rev. Dr. Karin Walker
Senior Pastor
Pastor Karin is the senior pastor of Fallston United Methodist Church and the Mission Central Parish. She has served Fallston for the past seven years and helped the congregation to grow. Her perspective is that the outward mindset is a key to church growth and it aligns us with the gospel of Christ. When we serve the least, the last, the lost, we become more and more like Jesus. Karin coaches Cross Country and Track at Fallston High School. She is married to Mike and has two children—Joshua who is married to Judi, and Marissa. Karin enjoys training for triathlons, reading, and gardening.
Rev. Danny Breidenbaugh
Executive Pastor
Pastor Danny serves full-time as the associate pastor of Fallston UMC and the Mission Central Parish. He received his Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC), a Bachelors of Science in Music Education from Towson University, and is currently working towards his Doctor of Ministry at Boston University School of Theology. He has previously served churches in Bunker Hill, WV and Truxton/Homer, NY. He has also previously served as a church music director and on staff at the West River UMC Summer Camp. Danny's wife, Anastasia, is a veterinarian at Perry Hall Animal Hospital. They enjoy playing board games, camping, and spending time with their twin daughters!
Pastor David Dellman
Pastor of Visitation
David was raised in a Methodist home. His Godfather was a Methodist Bishop. Planning a career in ministry, David majored in psychology at the undergraduate level. At Towson University, he met the woman who would become his wife, Janis. They married after graduation and two days later headed off to Springfield, Missouri, where David was enrolled in seminary.
They spent almost four years earning a Master of Divinity degree, but upon graduation, full-time employment proved elusive. David eventually ended up in human resources, serving in HR management for nearly thirty years.
During the pandemic, the company David worked for underwent significant restructuring. David saw this as a ripe opportunity for something he’d always dreamed of—self-employment as a professional entertainer. During this time, David met Danny and Karin, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Pastor Yulanda Mitchell
Administrative Pastor
Pastor Yulanda is a licensed Local Pastor with over two decades of experience discipling God’s people. Pastor Mitchell served as Pastor of Shiloh UMC in Hampstead Md. Prior to her appointment, Pastor Mitchell was an Associate Pastor for Fowler UMC in Annapolis, Md., for two years.
Pastor Mitchell holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Coppin State University, a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling and Discipleship from Capital Bible Seminary, and is currently working toward a Master of Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary. She is employed at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the Department of Pathology as an Education and Development Coordinator and works as Adjunct Faculty at Essex Community College.
Celebrating twenty-five years of marriage, Mr. Robert and Pastor Yulanda are proud parents to five beautiful Children, including K’lyn, Olivia, Jadon, Victoria, and Kiersten.
Pastor Cole Chandler
Youth Pastor
Cole is beginning his studies at Wesley Theological Seminary and is pursuing a Master of Divinity. Cole has grown up at Fallston UMC and has participated in a number of activities throughout the church and MCP. Cole has a passion for music as it is one of his favorite ways to worship God.
Pastor Paul Krebs
Local Pastor
Paul has been a member of Salem UMC, Upper Falls for the past 30 years and has pastored at the Deer Creek Charge prior to join the MCP team.
Paul and his wife, Amy, currently live in Kingsville, Baltimore County.
Pastor Steve Gatitu
Pastoral Intern
Pastor Steve has served as a parish speaker these past few years. He was born and raised in Kenya; East Africa. He came to faith in Jesus through the preaching from (John 3:16). He is married to Grace and blessed with Three young beautiful girls and one son. He is a graduate of Pwani Bible Institute - Diploma in Bible and Pastoral ministries, Bachelor of Theology: World Missions College V.A. and currently an M.Div. Student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
Steve was ordained and has been in the ministry as a youth Pastor, High School Board member, Missions Coordinator, Student Chaplain in a girls High School and as the Lead Pastor of a vibrant growing church before moving to the USA for further training and equipping for the ministry of loving God and serving him with and through his people.
OUR SPEAKERS
The Mission Central Parish is blessed to have a wide range of retired clergy, lay pastors, and lay speakers who serve as the Sunday morning speakers at our churches.
They each have a heart for preaching and leading worship!
Rev. Steven Cochran
Steven is a retired elder in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, having served and been a part of several of our MCP churches. He also works as a counselor.
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He has three grandchildren and is enjoying retirement with his wife on the Eastern Shore.
Rev. Dr. Jim Ditto
Jim ‘semi-retired’ in 2010 after serving for forty-two years in parish ministry, the final twenty-two at Fallston UMC. During this time, he spent five years as adjunct-faculty at Wesley Theological Seminary and two summers working and studying in England(Sheffield & Bristol) while participating in ministerial exchanges.
After retirement from full-time ministry, Jim worked two and one-half years for the Baltimore-Washington Conference(UMC) as a ‘Guide’ in the Baltimore Region. Following this, he worked(p/t) as a Small Group Facilitator/Coach in both the ‘Financial Leadership Academy’ and the ‘Academy of Church Finances’ for the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation.
Jim received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Maryland, a M.L.A. from the Johns Hopkins University, and both the M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from Wesley Theological Seminary.
Minister Rutha Eakin
Minister Rutha Eakin is a Greenville, North Carolina native, however at a very young age she moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Presently she is a resident of Harford County, Maryland. Minister Eakin was married to the love of her life, the late Minister Fred G. Eakin Jr. and God has blessed this loving union with four incredible children and six adorable grandchildren.
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Minister Eakin and her husband went on a sabbatical from their previous church, First Mount Olive FWB Church in 2017 to assist in ministry under The Rev. Marlon B. Tilghman, Pastor of Ames United Methodist Church in Bel Air Maryland. The ministry included but not limited to; preaching; teaching and dramatic productions. They became a permanent part of the Ames UMC Family 2018.
But Minister Eakin just wants you to know, before anything else, she is a child of the living God and she loves the Word of God, and the People of God. She also seeks to have a more intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ron Gompf
Ron was raised in the Methodist Church (Arnolia and Towson). After a period of “church inactivity” he returned to church after the birth of his daughter and has served in various positions. He was appointed to serve as Pastor of Wiseburg UMC in 2012 and served there through June of 2018.
This was a “second career. Prior to that he was in the mental health field and was/is a Sociology Professor.
He and his wife, Norma, reside in Glen Arm, Md.
Annabel Lusardi
Annabel has been a member at Fallston UMC for the last 22 years and a full time employee of the Mid Atlantic Foundation of the UMC. The foundation does investment of funds for local churches and stewardship education.
Annabel is a certified coach for laity and clergy through the Financial Leadership Academy. Prior to her work with the Foundation, Annabel was Director of education and coordinator of Discipleship ministries at Fallston, worked for a nonprofit raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
She and her husband Tom have three grown children. She sings in the praise band at Fallston and works as a youth leader.
Rev. Betty Megill
Betty is a child of God, a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend and retired pastor. She is an Ordained Elder in Full Connection in the United Methodist Church. She was an interpreter for the hearing impaired for 10 years when God called her into ministry during her participation in the 34-week Disciple Bible Study. She pastored 5 churches in her 22 years in ministry, two of her appointments in two-point charges.
Betty learned a great deal from the congregations she served and hopes they also learned from her. She was encouraged by how they lived out their faith especially during difficult times. In 2014, she and her husband, Glenn, moved from New Jersey to Perryville, Maryland to be closer to their daughter, Christy, her husband, Binu, and two beautiful grand-daughters, Hannah and Abby.