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 Pastor Ron Watts has been our Senior Pastor since July 2004. However, this was not his first appointment to Central United Methodist Church. In 1977, immediately after graduating seminary, Pastor Watts came to Central as our Associate Pastor when Reverend John Ewing was the church’s senior pastor. During his first service Pastor Ron said, “It’s like coming home again.”
Pastor Ron’s career in ministry that began here at Central has included serving as senior pastor for Tuckerton First United Methodist Church from 1980 through 1988 and for Millville First United Methodist Church in Millville from 1988 through 1996. In 1996, he was asked to serve as the District Superintendent of the Central District of the Southern New Jersey Annual Conference where he played an instrumental role along with Bishop Johnson and his fellow District Superintendents in guiding the church through the merger of the Northern New Jersey and Southern New Jersey Annual conferences into the consolidated Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. After the merger, he was named as the District Superintendent of the Gateway South District serving our 63 churches in the Camden and Cherry Hill area of New Jersey until Bishop Johnson appointed him to our church.
Pastor Ron met his wife, Candy, while he was attending Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore Kentucky and she has played an important role throughout his ministry. They have two children; a daughter, Lindsay, who lives in Yakima, Washington where she is a television news reporter for WKAPP TV and a son, Jordan, who is a student attending the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey while living at home. Pastor Ron enjoys jogging, kayaking, reading, birding, music, and the great outdoors.
“This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” is his favorite Scripture verse and one he enjoys starting Sunday worship services with. He is also fond of reflecting on the ministries of Central United Methodist Church that “This is a place where something good is always happening.”
And, his favorite affirmation of faith is “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.”
 Pastor Dave Delaney has been the Associate Pastor at Central United Methodist Church since July 2003. Delaney’s first appointment in ministry was at the ‘two-point’ charge of Leesburg United Methodist Church and Delmont United Methodist Church in Cumberland County, New Jersey where he served before coming to our church. Delaney’s ministry includes leadership roles with the youth and young adults in New Jersey and with the church’s board of pensions and health benefits. In addition, he works with the people living on the streets of Atlantic City through the ministries of the Atlantic City Rescue Mission and Covenant House.
Pastor Dave is a ‘Local Pastor’ who has had a distinguished working career in the private sector before beginning his ministry. He was active in the New Jersey community as the Social Security Administration’s Senior Public Affairs Specialist for the State of New Jersey where he was the ‘public face’ of this essential federal agency for many years. People in southern New Jersey know Pastor Dave from his career in television and radio where he hosted talk shows and other programs in the Atlantic City area.
Delaney and his wife Donna are originally from Buffalo New York. Donna has been an active Sunday School teacher, DVBS volunteer, and Girl Scout leader amongst other volunteer activities throughout their marriage. She even co-hosted Pastor Dave’s radio show for a number of years. They have two daughters: Megan who volunteers at an area nursing home while also working for McDonalds and Colleen who is a student at Lebanon Valley College with a double major. Both daughters are active in ministry with Megan being an essential member of our ‘church outside the church’ ministry team and Colleen serving on District and Conference youth and young adult ministry teams. Pastor Dave loves everything Buffalo from his Buffalo Bills and Sabres to hot chicken wings and even snow. He also enjoys reading, music, and almost every kind of sports including looking forward to the basketball that happens during our men’s Basketball Bible Study twice a month.
“I am a Christian who tries to follow what Jesus has taught us through the Gospels. My favorite Scripture is from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi because it reminds us how to live our lives, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Do not worry about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And, the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
 Reverend Dr. Joanne Drane, Ph.D, RN, L.P.C. was ordained as a deacon in the United Methodist Church in 1996. She is also licensed and certified in New Jersey as a professional counselor. Reverend Drane is director of Central Counseling Center and also serves in the ministry of pastoral care here at Central United Methodist Church.
Reverend Drane’s responsibilities include the training and supervision of Eucharistic ministers and pastoral visitors, and follow-up contacts with church members who have been hospitalized or have recently lost loved ones. She provides grief counseling, pre-marital counseling, and follows up with inactive parishioners.
She avidly embraces the concept of mind-body-spirit wholeness and has worked diligently in our community to bridge the gap between the medical, psychological, and religious models for healing.
She is married to William Drane and they have three daughters and five grandchildren.
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5 Marvin Avenue
