Bishop Elaine Stanovsky has announced her intention to appoint the Reverend Jeff Rainwater, currently serving as Senior Pastor of First United Methodist church of Laramie, Wyoming, to become District Superintendent of Wyoming, Mountain Sky Area effective July 1, 2015. In this role, he will relate to all United Methodist Churches in Wyoming from both the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain conferences, continuing the “Wyoming experiment.”
“Jeff’s focus is on God’s mission through United Methodism. He has proven himself as a strong local church pastor, with a heart and head for vital ministries in existing churches and for new church development. He’s going to be a great addition to the cabinet team,” said Bishop Stanovsky.
Rev. Rainwater served at First UMC in Laramie for the last seven years in partnership with his wife, the Rev. Laura Easter Rainwater, currently the Director of the Wesley Foundation Campus Ministries at the University of Wyoming. Jeff graduated from Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina in 2002 and was ordained an Elder in the Arkansas Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2004. In the Arkansas Conference, Jeff served as Associate Pastor of two large churches in El Dorado and Paragould Arkansas.
The Rainwaters transferred to the Rocky Mountain Conference in 2004 and Jeff served Center and Saguache United Methodist Churches, while Laura served Sargent and Mosca. It was there that the Rainwaters worked with other pastors in the area in the San Luis Cooperative Parish. Along with his ministry, Jeff also has been active in District and Conference leadership, most recently chairing the RMC New Church Development Committee for the past two years.
Jeff and Laura have an 8-year-old daughter Emma, one dog, and one cat. When he can, Jeff likes to listen to jazz, spend time with his family, take his dog for long walks, and generally enjoy the wide open spaces of the West.
Go to the Appointments/Assignments page online to see an updated list of church openings, assignments and retirement announcements.
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