Bangs First Methodist Receives New Pastor

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After consultation and recommendation of the local Pastor Relations Committee, Presiding Elder David Medley has announced the appointment of Reverend Steven Granadosin to the Bangs/Santa Anna Charge of the Global Methodist Church effective August 1. Reverend Granadosin will be delivering his first sermons here on August 6.

Born in the Philippines, Rev. Steve Granadosin is no stranger to the Methodist Church as his father, Paul Locke A. Granadosin, served as a bishop of the UMC Church in the Philippines from 1968 until his death in 2001.

As a lay person, he was music director of his home church from 1993 to 2004 when he was tapped to serve as a lay missioner. He went on to become a local pastor, helping provide El Dios Viviente, a Hispanic ministry in Seattle with a venue for worship services. He was one of four pastors who formed a circuit of pastors that served the church start of the only United Methodist Church in Canada before it was chartered in 2006. As a local pastor, he attended Course of Study at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago (G-ETS). In 2009 Pastor Granadosin moved on to obtain a Masters of Divinity degree from G-ETS, graduating near the top of his class. He received the Bishop Edsel A. Ammons Award for Racial Justice and Understanding. While attending Seminary, he helped organize an ecumenical prayer gathering at the Seminary grounds for Muslim and Christian students of Northwestern University. He served as interim local pastor in Frankfort UMC and was an associate pastor of Glenview UMC, both in the Northern Illinois Conference. While there, he was instrumental in raising funds to start the Philippines Central Conference Pension Fund through the General Board of Pensions in 2012. After graduating, Granadosin began serving in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference. He organized joint youth gatherings and partnered in ministry with the former Nueva Vida Hispanic ministry in Beardstown, Illinois. He helped provide leadership through the Conference Board of Global Ministries, found and lead Volunteers in Mission teams to the Philippines. He was ordained in 2016 and by 2017, he was appointed by Bishop Frank Beard as District Superintendent of Spoon River. As of 2022, he supervised 101 churches in that district and in the neighboring Illinois River District. His former appointment was at Wesley UMC – Sulpher Spring, Texas. Earlier this year Granadosin affiliated with the Global Methodist Church. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology and worked seven years as a network administrator for a Bell Company and was a music minister and choir director for more than 20 years.

He is married to the Rev. Cecilia Granadosin, also an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church. Her new appointment is to Miles Methodist Church. The Granadosins have three adult children (Amber, Joshua and Isaac); and three grandchildren (Evelyn, Neela and Max.) who reside in the Metroplex area.

We are excited to begin this new chapter in the life of First Methodist Church of Bangs. Please be in prayer for Pastor Steve and Pastor Cecilia as they transition to our community.