Rev. Alison (Ali) DeLeo
Lead Pastor

Pastor Ali was appointed as our pastor on July 1, 2022, after serving as pastor at National United Methodist Church (Washington DC) and Faith-Community Cooperative Parrish (Pasadena MD). She served on the pastoral staff at Pleasant Green UMC (Durham NC), North UMC (Indianapolis, Indiana), Hillcrest Methodist Church Clerpine Circuit (Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa), and as a chaplain at Duke Medical Center (Durham, NC). Pastor Ali is an ordained elder in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. She earned a Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree (her former vocation) from Temple University. Pastor Ali has a passion for creative worship experiences that inspire us to share God’s love and transforming grace with others. In her spare time, Ali enjoys Broadway musicals, gardening, running, and playing with her dog, Violet. She also loves to sing, paint, travel, cook, and study history. 

Rev. Joanne Miles
Deacon

Pastor Joanne is an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist church serving at Swarthmore since December of 2021. She also is a senior financial leader at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Joanne, a lifetime Methodist, felt God’s call to ministries of social justice and to bring her gifts of financial advisory to the church. She has an Mdiv from Lutheran Seminary of Philadelphia (now called United Lutheran Seminary) and has an MBA in Healthcare Administration from St. Joseph’s University. As a Deacon she sees the importance of connecting the hurts of the world to the church and the church to those needs. She serves on the South District Committee on Ordained Ministry as Registrar; provides lends her financial consultation services to local churches and social justices agencies in creating future sustainability. Joanne has previously served as the Co-Finance Chair for national board of Methodist Federation for Social Action and currently serves as co-convenor for the local regional office of both MFSA Methodist Federation for Social Action and Reconciling Ministries Network; a member of the EPA Regional Council DelVal JFON and serves on several boards. Here at Swarthmore, she serves in the worship service and lends her gifts in creative ways to experience God into our worship, in social justice ministries, congregational care, and support of our growing Young Adult and Family Ministries. She also preaches occasionally throughout the year.
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Matthew J. English
Director of Worship & Music

Matthew is a graduate of West Chester University with a degree in music and minor in dance. He is currently pursing a masters in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.  Matthew loves to do music of all kinds and has extensive experience leading choirs, orchestras and compasses and arranges his own material both for theatre and for special worship services. Matthew in involved in community theatre as one of the founding member of Viviana Theatre. He is committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming, spirit filled space of worship where we can all be challenged to become the people God has called us to be.

JohnPaul Beattie
Audio/Visual/Sound Engineer

JohnPaul Beattie is a Spatial Music Composer, Adjunct Assistant Professor, and Master Sound Engineer in the School of Music at University of the Arts. He earned his MFA in Music Composition from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2018.  Beattie has received a research grant exploring the Emotional Impact of Spatial Audio, from the Center for Immersive Media and the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at UArts.  Beattie also received the President’s Award for Excellence – a microgrant to build a spatial audio controller prototype, of his own design, to aid his research. Beattie is currently teaching Binaural Recording, Spatial Audio Composition, Introduction to Acoustics, and Live Sound Production 1, 2, and 3 at University of the Arts.

Herman E. Jacobs
Sexton

Herman has worked for SUMC for many years and has become to jack-of-all-trades around the building! He grew up just down the street in South Media and has spent most his life in the area. He comes from a large family and is one of seven siblings. After working his whole life, Herman wasn't quite ready to retire and came to work as our Sexton. He keeps the church running from day to day, handles any facility emergency, and all maintenance work and scheduling. When he's not at the church, Herman works for the Phillies as the host in the premium seating section just behind home plate. He loves every second of it even if he is a New York Yankees fan! In his free time, Herman enjoys spending time with his wife, grandchildren, and picking up new hobbies.