Meet Our Pastor
REVEREND BETTE JOHNSON SOHM
Reverend Bette Johnson Sohm has always had a strong call to lay leadership.
Pastor Bette served on numerous committees while a congregant at Faith United Methodist Church (UMC) in Staten Island. She began taking lay speaker courses and expanded her learning by taking two-year courses and earning certificates in areas that included spiritual direction, Gestalt Pastoral Care and emerging worship.
She served for 6 years as the Archivist for the NY Annual Conference.
Pastor Bette recognized and answered a call to ordained ministry in 2005.
She went on to serve part-time as a local pastor with Pine Plains UMC in Pine Plains, New York (2005-2008) and Good Shepherd UMC in Astoria, Queens (2008-2010). In 2010, Pastor Bette earned a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) from Drew Theological Seminary. She moved to New Paltz, where she was commissioned as provisional elder and ordained in 2013.
Pastor Bette was appointed to St. Paul’s UMC in Northport, New York in 2018, and came to Bethel July 2021.
Pastor Bette is active and engaged on various levels within the Conference. She has led retreats for various churches and she helped establish and lead the Staten Island branch of the District’s Lay Speaking Ministries School. She serves on the Board of Ordained Ministry, the Committee on the Episcopacy, and Archives and History.
In her “spare” time, Pastor Bette enjoys reading, movies, jig saw puzzles and history. Pastor Bette holds a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. She met her husband, Glenn, when he was the technical director of the theater at Richmond College on Staten Island. They share in ministry together, as well as many overlapping interests. They have been married since 1986.
Pastor Bette served on numerous committees while a congregant at Faith United Methodist Church (UMC) in Staten Island. She began taking lay speaker courses and expanded her learning by taking two-year courses and earning certificates in areas that included spiritual direction, Gestalt Pastoral Care and emerging worship.
She served for 6 years as the Archivist for the NY Annual Conference.
Pastor Bette recognized and answered a call to ordained ministry in 2005.
She went on to serve part-time as a local pastor with Pine Plains UMC in Pine Plains, New York (2005-2008) and Good Shepherd UMC in Astoria, Queens (2008-2010). In 2010, Pastor Bette earned a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) from Drew Theological Seminary. She moved to New Paltz, where she was commissioned as provisional elder and ordained in 2013.
Pastor Bette was appointed to St. Paul’s UMC in Northport, New York in 2018, and came to Bethel July 2021.
Pastor Bette is active and engaged on various levels within the Conference. She has led retreats for various churches and she helped establish and lead the Staten Island branch of the District’s Lay Speaking Ministries School. She serves on the Board of Ordained Ministry, the Committee on the Episcopacy, and Archives and History.
In her “spare” time, Pastor Bette enjoys reading, movies, jig saw puzzles and history. Pastor Bette holds a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. She met her husband, Glenn, when he was the technical director of the theater at Richmond College on Staten Island. They share in ministry together, as well as many overlapping interests. They have been married since 1986.
