By: Debbie Campbell
Who is Pastor Dawn Trapp? Dawn grew up in a family that didn’t go to church. When Dawn was little, a friend had invited her to go to church with their family and she’s been going ever since. At the age of 10 tragedy struck Dawn’s family and Dawn turned to the church to help her through it.
Dawn hasn’t always wanted to be a pastor. Before joining the church, Dawn earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Eastern Kentucky University. She also has a master’s degree in Education for Rehabilitation Counseling from Kent State. Dawn was a rehab counselor for 20 years working primarily with people injured in car accidents.
Dawn felt like God was calling her into the Methodist church. She had gotten involved in a church where she lived in Strongsville and started the ministry process. Dawn has also served as chaplain at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. She worked on the palliative care team. Being a chaplain is a different role than being a pastor. According to Dawn, “chaplain’s get to lean into the pain and pastors get to listen and help in a different way.”
It is a long journey to become a Methodist Minister. To start her journey, along with being a chaplain, Dawn was also a children’s minister for 5 years before becoming a local licensed pastor. In 2012, Dawn was appointed to her first church. Every year, the Methodist church holds an annual conference. It’s at this conference that pastors are appointed by the Bishop. Dawn was appointed to the Delta United Methodist Church on June 30, 2019.
Dawn became a local licensed pastor in 2012 and was ordained in June 2019, and before coming to Delta, was at a church in the Tri-state area of Cincinnati. According to Dawn, when you accept a position of being an elder in the United Methodist Church you also say, “I’m willing to go anywhere you say.”
The hope is once you are appointed by the Bishop, you will be at that church for a minimum of 6 years. Dawn believes that the first year is all about building relationships. If change is necessary, you never make changes the first year at a new church. The first year is about learning what the community and the church’s needs are.
When Dawn first came here, she started a 40 days prayer and fasting. Dawn starts every service with prayer. According to Dawn, “Everything has to start with prayer. It is the foundation of everything. You can’t do anything without it.”
Before Dawn got to United Methodist Church, one Sunday a month was considered a contemporary service. This had been discontinued by the previous Pastor. When Dawn heard of the idea, she loved it and decided to bring it back. A contemporary service contains recent styles of music and the style of preaching is a little different than a traditional service.
Starting in January, the Church will offer contemporary services every 2nd and 4th Sunday. On the 4th Sunday of the month the service will also include a children’s choir. According to Dawn, “Part of the best job of being a pastor is seeing the light of Christ in people when they don’t even recognize it and just saying wow, I see Jesus in that, because it’s in the smallest things that people don’t realize.”
Dawn believes it’s her calling to tell others about Christ and how he changes her or how she has seen him change other people. Dawn is honored to serve God. According to Dawn, she has the best boss in the world, and she gets to do his work every day for the rest of her life.
Debbie can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com