Our Church Staff:
Pastor
Rev. Eric Espada
Eric assumed the role of Senior Pastor at Richmond First beginning in July 2025. His journey began in Puerto Rico, moving to the United States in January 2000, with his wife Cesia of 20 years. They are blessed with two wonderful sons, Eric, 14, and Isaac, 13. He earned his bachelor’s in management from Asbury University and his Master’s in Divinity from Asbury Seminary.
His passion lies in making Disciples and empowering Laity to be the church, harnessing their unique gifts and talents.
Associate Pastor / Wesley Foundation Director
Rev. Eliza Love
Eliza Love joined Richmond First United Methodist Church as Associate Pastor and Director of the Wesley Foundation at Eastern Kentucky University in July 2024. A native Kentuckian, Eliza graduated from Birmingham-Southern College before earning her Master of Divinity from Duke University. She also received a certificate in Ecumenical Studies from the World Council of Churches Bossey Ecumenical Institute and the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Eliza first felt called to ministry as a camper and summer staff member at Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center, where she fostered a deep passion for faith formation and community building. She can be found cheering on her favorite sports teams, playing basketball, needlepointing, curating Spotify playlists, traveling, getting lost in a good book, or golfing. Eliza would love the
opportunity to get to know you over a cup of coffee!
Youth and Children’s Minister
Amanda Bonner
Amanda grew up in Alabama before moving to Kentucky in 2007 to attend Asbury Theological Seminary, completing a Masters of Arts in Youth Ministry in 2010. Before she started serving as the Children’s Coordinator at Richmond First UMC in 2021, Amanda served, along with her husband, over a decade in the Christian camping industry, including UMC Camp Tekoa in Hendersonville, NC, and Aldersgate Camp & Retreat Center in Ravenna, KY. Amanda and her husband are also licensed foster parents through the State of Kentucky, and in 2021 adopted their first son. She loves seeing children grow, flourish, and know that they are loved, adored, and welcomed by the Creator of the universe. Don’t be too surprised if she greets you with a “War Eagle” or starts talking college football as she is very passionate about the Auburn Tigers. When she has the opportunity, Amanda enjoys traveling and capturing the beauty of the world through lens of her camera.
Financial Officer / Office Manager
Jane Yerace
Jane has called Kentucky home since 2007. Prior to that, she lived in Northern Virginia and worked for the Department of Defense for more than 35 years. Richmond FUMC has been her church home since 2007 and she loves that she is able to support the church in this position. Jane is an avid University of Louisville football fan and a St. Louis Cardinal Baseball fan. She is a mom to three adult children and two grandsons. She is a quilting enthusiast and is learning to machine embroidery.
Music Ministries Coordinator
John Stegner
John Stegner hails from New Carlisle, Ohio. His Bachelors and Masters degrees are from Eastern Kentucky University, in Richmond, accompanied by a year at Wichita State University. He also holds a Rank I certificate in Education, from the University of Kentucky and has participated in numerous, other educational pursuits, including performing with Maestro, Robert Shaw, at the Westminster Choir College for three consecutive summers.
As a music educator for over 40 years in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, his choirs were featured at the Kentucky Music Educators Association In-Service Conferences, the American Choral Directors Association Conferences; they performed throughout Central and Eastern US, and were selected as “Best in Class” at several National and International Choral Festivals.
After retirement, John taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky. He currently teaches at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, where he initiated the choral music program, and at the University of the Cumberlands, in Williamsburg, where he teaches choral methods and voice.
His music ministry at the First United Methodist Church, in Richmond, is preceded by similar stints throughout his years in Kentucky, which include the First Baptist Church, in Mt. Sterling, the First Christian Church, in Mt. Sterling, Centenary United Methodist Church, in Lexington, Broadway Christian Church, in Lexington, and First Christian Church, in Richmond.
Mr. Stegner enjoys hobbies, such as photography, riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, boating on Lake Cumberland, and flying a powered parachute.
Kitchen Manager in the MMC
Keith Browning
Keith Browning has been working with FUMC since March of 2012. He was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in New Jersey and went to college at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, where he worked as a dishwasher throughout his college years. After graduation he returned to Hope and eventually he became Kitchen Manager and then Catering Manager.
In 1981, he learned about an opening for Food Service Manager at Berea College from a colleague and decided to relocate to the South. His former Colleague was now his boos and he remained in that position until 1998 when it was time to follow a different path. He worked; His former Colleague was now his boos and he remained in that position until 1998 when it was time to follow a different path. He worked in Real State appraisal for 10 years until it was time to retire and take care of his mother full time.
After his mom’s passing in 2011, He decided he couldn’t stay completely retired. He discovered an ad in the Richmond Register for a Food Manager position at FUMC. He applied for the position, was accepted and started working on March 2012. He was initially to help the cooks already in positions to prepare the WNL meals but as time marched on, he began cooking a number of the meals with a lot of wonderful help. In the fall of 2012 the WNL meals moved from the Fellowship hall to the new kitchen in the MMC.
The number of people who attended the meals on Wednesday increased after we moved the food service across the parking lot. We had a great time serving so many guests. But sadly, COVID hit in March 2020, and we had to stop serving people in person. At that time, we were feeding a lot of people from the community who had nowhere else to go. We started delivering meals to those who signed up and needed them. We could feed up to 50 people on Wednesday nights and Sunday noons, and we delivered them until the end of July 2021. A lot of the food for these meals was donated by Chenault Winery, which still continues to this day. Also, a lot of other people helped us pack and deliver food to Madison Home during this time, and that also still continues.
In September 2021, WNL brought back in-person meals, but attendance never went back to pre-COVID levels. We still serve the WNL meals, and Sunday noon meals for Thrive have seen more people. During the winter, we’ve been cooking hot meals for Madison Home on Wednesday evenings. We can’t wait to start the WNL meals in September and promise to bring back those delicious home-cooked meals we used to have.