
Pastor Amanda Richards
Directing Pastor
Pastor Amanda was called to ministry when she was 16 years old. She grew up on a farm between Lexington and Gridley, Illinois, attending Lexington FUMC. After graduating from Lexington High School in 1996, she attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois where she received a BA with a major in Psychology in 2000. She then attended Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where she received her Masters of Divinity in 2003.
When she returned to her home conference, IGRC, she was appointed as an Associate at Shiloh UMC in Shiloh, Illinois for four years. During that time she met her husband, Brian. They married and had their first child, Mason, while at Shiloh UMC.
From there they moved to Heyworth, Illinois where they added Parker to their family and served the church and community there for nine years.
In 2016, she was appointed to Pana FUMC, and they lived and served the church and community there for the past five years.
They are a Disney World visiting, Marvel movie watching family of homebodies who enjoy playing games, gardening, and reading.
- Phone:217-423-9711
- Email:PastorAmanda@decaturfirstumc.org

Jennifer Horton-Motter
Director of Children and Family Ministries
Jennifer grew up in Decatur attending the First United Methodist Church with her parents, Bill & Lana Horton. She married Chris Motter in 2002 after having received a Bachelor’s of Science in Education from Illinois State University. She began her career teaching Kindergarten in Racine, Wisconsin. Jennifer and Chris have three children. Outside of work she volunteers at her children’s schools and with Scouts. For fun, Jennifer loves stamping, paper-crafting, reading and feeding her Pinterest addiction.
- Phone:217-423-9711
- Email:jennifer@decaturfirstumc.org

Nate Widelitz
Director of Music
- Phone:217-423-9711
- Email:natewidelitz@gmail.com
Office Staff
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