Leadership at First UMC

Pastor Tim Bonney (He/Him) started his appointment as the Pastor of First UMC on July 1, 2017. Tim and his wife Michelle are both from Missouri and met while in college in the St. Louis metro. They have one adult child Katie Tschopp, who is on staff at a church in Ames, Iowa.

As Pastor, Tim is responsible for the overall vision, ministry and leadership of the church. His responsibilities include sharing God’s Word, administering the sacraments, ordering the life of the church, and serving others alongside the members of First UMC.

Tim and Michelle enjoy kayaking and camping. Tim’s hobbies also include tinkering with computers and other electronics and occasional guitar strumming.

Ellen Wright

Director of Discipleship

Ellen joined our church staff in 2011. As Director of Discipleship, she oversees our Infant/Toddler (Waumbaland) ministry, K-5 (Bibletown) ministry, Youth (FUSE) ministry and adult education related programming. She is passionate about creating safe spaces where all God’s children are welcomed and loved. Ellen believes that discipleship happens best in the context of relationships and is excited to help create as many pathways as possible to connect people to Jesus and each other.

Zach Rohlwing

Director of Worship Arts

Zach’s very first job was playing bass guitar in a Saturday night worship band at the age of 15 and he’s been a professional church musician in one form or another ever since. Zach studied piano, voice, and music education at Simpson College and the University of South Dakota and after teaching collegiate music and directing church choirs in the Pittsburgh area he returned to his home town of Des Moines and began at Indianola First UMC in 2017. His favorite thing about directing worship and music at First UMC is the opportunity to be creative with a variety of people in a variety of different ministries. What’s more, those ministries make immediate and real differences in people’s lives. In addition to his work at First UMC, Zach is an active musician and teacher in the greater Des Moines area. In his spare time he enjoys drawing, cooking, working on his house and spending time with his wife Alison and their son Felix.

Michael Boston

Accountant

Michael has worked at Indianola First UMC since October of 2003 as the Finance Coordinator. Prior to starting here, Michael spent 15 years at Peoples Natural Gas company in Omaha, in the accounting and gas supply areas. He then spent 4 years running a scholarship program for an inner city Catholic grade school land then 3 years at United Way of Central Iowa.

Lisa Anderson

Office Administrator

Dixie Olsen

Infant and Toddler Ministries Coordinator