Steve O’Dell

I am a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University and have done graduate work at Wesley Seminary. Prior to coming to EWC, my ministry background has been primarily in church planting. I am also a certified ministry coach. I have been the Lead Pastor at EWC since August 2011. We came to EWC to help lead a ministry revitalization effort. In the last 5 years, by God’s grace, EWC has become a healthy, growing and exciting ministry. We have a renewed passion for reaching outside the walls of our building and being the hands and feet of Christ by serving our neighbors in practical ways with the hope of being able to introduce them to Jesus. Most recently, I have sensed God’s calling on our ministry to minister to the growing ethnic population in the Roanoke Valley and to embrace becoming a multi-ethnic ministry. My vision for EWC is to see a great multitude from every nation, every tribe, every people and every language walking, working and worshiping together as one.

I have been married to Annie, who is the love of my life and my partner in ministry for 31 years. Together we have raised 3 boys. In my spare time I enjoy University of Michigan football and riding my Harley on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Lisa Nucamendi

I grew up in California, living in Los Angeles and Sacramento before moving with my family to Roanoke in 2007. Later that year, we opened our first restaurant in Downtown Roanoke, Alejandro’s Mexican Grill.

God led my family to EWC in July 2014 and I became the office manager and administrative assistant to Pastor Steve in May 2015. I am honored to serve Jesus alongside the dedicated team of volunteers at EWC. The coolest part of my job is that I get to work with TWO awesome pastors! I look forward to my job every single day!

Growing up in LA, I learned to speak Spanish and developed a love of the language and the Hispanic people. I have a God-given passion for embracing people from every nation, tribe and language and am so excited about our vision at EWC to become a multi-ethnic ministry. I am eager to see how God will use El Puente (our Immigration Connection Center) and our ESL classes to reach the people of our community and the immigrants of the Roanoke Valley.

I’ve been married to my husband, Moises for 24 years. We have 2 daughters, 1 son and a grandson. I love reading and worshiping God through music. We also enjoy watching movies, spending time with family, hanging out with friends, and visiting the local Farmer’s market.

Janet Guthrie

I am a graduate of Roanoke College and have worked in the insurance brokerage world for 30 years. In 2000, I accepted the greatest gift of my life, Jesus Christ, and I gave my life to Him. In 2013, I answered God’s call to ministry and entered into the ministry ordination program with the Wesleyan Church. I have volunteered in a variety of ministry roles including Missions Director, Teacher, Small Group Leader and Team leader for a Church Revitalization Project.

In 2015, my husband Tim and I began attending EWC and saw the mission of Christ being lived out. Pastor Steve asked me to become the Director of Equip University (EquipU). The goal of Equip University is to educate and equip those who are part of our church to take next steps in their walk with Christ and to prepare them to use their gifts and abilities to serve God both inside and outside the walls of our church. Our vision for EquipU is for our Church family to become modern day disciples. As Christians, we need to learn the habit of living out the principles of the kingdom in our everyday normal life. We want others to see what life formed by the gospel of God actually looks like.

I have been married to Tim for 5 years, and we enjoy serving together at EWC. God blesses us each day in many ways as we watch the sunrise together, listen to the birds sing, watch the horses roam and the sunrise at Myrtle Beach (our favorite vacation spot) or the sunset over the Blue Ridge mountains. As we embrace this season in our life, we start each day with this quote from Oswald Chambers in mind, “Don’t forget to pray today because God did not forget to wake us up this morning”.

Moises Nucamendi

I migrated to the US from Mexico City when I was 19 years old.  After a short time in Chicago I moved to Los Angeles where I met my wife, Lisa.  I lived there for a few years before moving to and living in Sacramento for 10 years. Though we enjoyed California, an opportunity arose for us to move to Roanoke in 2007.  I’ve worked in the restaurant business most of my life. In 2007 I opened Alejandro’s Mexican Grill in the Roanoke Valley.

After visiting a few churches, God led us to EWC on the very Sunday that Pastor announced the vision to become a multi-ethnic ministry!  I love it here.  Since day one, I felt so welcomed by the people at EWC.

I’ve always enjoyed mingling with people, so being asked by Pastor to serve as the Embrace Community Director has been a great opportunity and great fit for me.  I get to continue to greet guests each week and use the skills I gained from my years working in the hospitality industry to make them feel welcome at EWC.

Melissa Fisher

As the Director of Engage Culture, I have the joy of working outside the walls of our church, serving the very community that our church is a part of. I am a high school math teacher and just began my 10th year teaching. I have multiple degrees from Virginia Tech and Radford University. I value the ministry opportunity that I have in the public schools to show my students who Jesus is, but one of my favorite things to do is to lead the outreach endeavors of EWC. I have been attending EWC since 2013 and served as the Director of Engage Culture since 2015. Our core value, Engage Culture, encompasses all of the things that we do to reach our community and the world for Christ. My goal as its director is twofold. The first, is to mobilize our church by creating opportunities to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our community. We do this through events like our Back to School Supply Drive for the children of Preston Park Elementary and The Big Serve where we love on our community through acts of service with no strings attached. The second, is to encourage our church to come alongside our overseas ministry partners (missionaries) to support them prayerfully, financially, and by working alongside them through short term mission trips.

In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, kayaking, and Virginia Tech football!

Anette Lloyd

I have been leading worship at Emmanuel Wesleyan Church since February of 2016. I am thankful I was raised in a home where being involved in church and music was a priority. I felt a calling to music ministry while attending youth camp. That night, I was overwhelmed at how I saw God pour out his spirit when his people obediently and passionately worshiped him with their instruments and voices. Throughout God’s Word, we are commanded to praise our heavenly Father. When we are obedient to these commands, I believe the Holy Spirit ushers us into the presence of the Almighty. In his presence, we cannot help but to be changed, renewed, and transformed for the glory of our King! My hope and prayer is that the worship experience at EWC leads those who participate into a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ.

I have taught Art at William Fleming High School since 2007. In my spare time, I enjoy acting with various community theater productions and performing with my band, Steemgeek Traveler. My husband Mark and I have been married for 9 years and we love to travel.