YOUR STORY MATTERS HERE: Brenda Rochford

By Jenny Monahan

As Dutilh members since 2006, Brenda Rochford, her husband Ken, and their children Kenny, Amber, and Kaitie, are familiar faces to many around the church and local community. However, people might not know that in addition to her retail management position with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, Brenda is a licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church.

The story of how Brenda landed in Cranberry Township, PA, as a wife, mom, retail manager, and pastor is a rather twisty tale.

Brenda’s journey started in Burlington County, NJ, where her father was stationed at McGuire Air Force Base. She and Ken were high school sweethearts; both attended college in the south, where both had family. Brenda earned a B.S. degree in business administration and marketing at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina, while Ken attended the University of South Carolina. They married shortly after graduation and remained in North Carolina for four years, where Ken worked as a police officer in Greensboro, Brenda worked in a bookstore, and their son Kenny was born.

The Rochfords moved to Arizona when Ken moved into federal law enforcement with the U.S. Customs Service. During their six years in the southwest, Brenda and Ken spent a lot of time at their church, Sierra Vista UMC.

Brenda worked part-time as the director of education, where she handled children’s programming and adult classes. She and Ken also did mission trips to New Mexico and Ken became the youth minister at their church.

September 11, 2001, marked a turning point for the family. U.S. Customs morphed into the Department of Homeland Security and Ken’s job changed significantly. Around that same time, Amber and Kaitie were born—12 months and ten days apart—and Brenda found herself juggling three young children. She stepped back into a volunteer role at the church so she could be the stable presence her family needed at that time.

As she continued to volunteer with the youth ministry program, however, Brenda began to feel the stirrings of a call to ministry.

“We were doing all this lay ministry, and I started to feel a tug on my heart that I could do some of the things the ordained ministry staff was doing,” Brenda explained.

That tug continued, and Brenda told Ken she was feeling drawn to becoming a pastor. “His response was, ‘OK, how do we make it happen?’” Brenda said.

After some research, Brenda concluded that the best path for her was to become a licensed local pastor. The role would allow her to pursue her ministerial vocation and still have the autonomy to turn down assignments that might force the family to relocate.

Over the next years, Brenda pursued her call. She participated in a formal mentoring and discernment process and completed most of the coursework to become licensed. However, with only licensing school remaining, the Rochford family relocated to Cranberry Township for Ken’s job.

“I got connected to a local licensing school and was able to do a one-week intensive program in Ohio,” Brenda explained. She received her license from the local bishop shortly afterward and started the next phase of her training: master’s-level coursework towards divinity degree.

The family’s move to Cranberry Township is when the Rochfords first encountered Dutilh Church.

“Our experience at Dutilh was fantastic,” Brenda said. “We were looking for a Sunday school class; within two weeks of joining the parlor group, we were adopted by no fewer than four families in the group. They took us in and took care of us.”

“We came from a tight-knit community in Arizona, and we had no family here,” Brenda continued. “People at Dutilh checked in on us and offered help; they were so open and accepting of us right from the beginning.”

Through the Dutilh Church family, Brenda met then-Pastor Don Scandrol—who, coincidentally, was about to begin serving as the district superintendent for the WPUMC. “I started pestering him about when he was going to find me a job leading a church,” Brenda said. At the same time, Brenda was trying to get her children settled into school and complete a course or two each semester towards her M.Div. degree.

Eventually her persistence paid off. In the fall of 2006, Brenda was assigned to lead Fellowship UMC in Ambridge. The congregation consisted of 12 people. During her 18 months as pastor, Brenda grew the church to 40 consistent members. Still, she struggled to get people to attend church events and wondered if the church might find a better fit with a different leader.

In 2008, Brenda was appointed to serve as the associate pastor and director of youth ministry at Monroeville UMC, a congregation with more than 400 members.

“It was night and day, compared to serving a church with 40 members,” Brenda said. “But it was a wonderful place to be.”

Then came another turning point. In 2010, Brenda learned that the District Board of Ordained Ministry wanted her to pursue her M.Div. full time, while continuing to serve as a ¾-time pastor in Monroeville. She was also still working part-time in retail.

“My family situation, with three kids and a husband who traveled for work, just didn’t allow for it,” Brenda explained. She made the difficult decision to pause her candidacy.

“One of the lay people on the board said something that has stuck with me,” Brenda said. “She told me, ‘Your calling is still Christ, but it’s not to be in a church building right now. It’s to be the best soccer mom you can be, and to minister to the people around you on that soccer field.’”

With that calling in mind, Brenda has embraced her roles as a mom and dedicated volunteer. Brenda is currently on Dutilh’s leadership board, volunteers with Dutilh Student Ministry (DSM), and recently joined the adult choir. The Rochford family assists with media ministry, periodically hosting the online chat for worship services. Brenda also works for the Pittsburgh Penguins, managing their retail store in SoutSide Works.

Both Brenda and Ken are instrumental to the Seneca Valley Choir Boosters, helping with trips, concerts, adjudication, and stage set-up. Brenda currently chairs the booster organization and plans to continue that service until her youngest daughter graduates next year.

Brenda is grateful that the Dutilh Church family has walked with her family through her unique journey.

“We’ve had our stressful times—like all families—where we don’t go to church as much as we’d like to,” Brenda said. “But Dutilh has always been here for us, has welcomed us back and supported us. The welcome is always, ‘We’re glad you’re here!’ whether they haven’t seen us for six months or for two days.”

If you or someone you know in the Dutilh family has an interesting story, send us your ideas! We would love to help tell your story. Email: communications@dutilhumc.org.