Staff

Kathy Barr

Thank you for welcoming me! I am already feeling at home and comfortable, with many of your members introducing themselves and being so kind to me.

My experience and life are long and varied. My entire career was with AT&T, starting as a 411 operator and ending as the Director of Community and Government Relations. I earned both my bachelors and MBA while working full time through the University of Redlands and La Verne.

I love to run and jog, work out, travel, read, garden, and spend time with my family and my roommate, Harlow- a standard Schnauzer rescue. I will work hard to keep this place in great working order. I appreciate your guidance and patience as we work together to give this beautiful church and church family what it needs and deserves!

June Lee

Organist & Pianist June Jongeun Lee is a native of Seoul, South Korea. She has played the piano since the age six, and she was actively involved in music as a school conductor and an accompanist since junior high school. Since then, she won several prizes in piano competitions. Ms. Lee majored in religious music and studied piano and organ from Chong-Shin University in Seoul Korea and got a Bachelors degree and an Artistic diploma (MM). She worked actively as a church organist, a pianist and an accompanist in Korea.

She has performed at a lot of concerts as an organist and a pianist over the course of her career, and has taught many students and accumulated her great careers as teacher. After arriving in the U.S.,  she studied organ performance with professor Cherry Rhodes and the piano with professor Antoinette Perry, and she earned an Artistic Diploma from USC. While she studied, she earned  USC music department scholarship, Englebarts scholarship and Mu Phi Epsilon scholarship. She has also performed numerous concerts as a soloist and as an accompanist with Choirs & soloists.
She is currently working at music studio as a piano instructor and teaches her private students in Irvine, and she teaches at Citrus High school .

Herman Hope

I am from Fullerton, California, and attended Fullerton First United Methodist Church until I went to Centenary College of Louisiana, a Methodist-affiliated college, to earn my B.A. of English. With musical performances and involvement forming the backbone of my development from childhood through my time at Centenary, especially with my involvement in the Centenary College Choir and studying voice with renowned soprano, Twyla Robinson, I decided to go to California State University, Fullerton, to earn my Master’s degree in Music. I earned that degree in Spring of 2021 and will now be entering the credential program to become a teacher in the Spring of 2022.

I have also been in a plethora of performances and choirs, often telling people that I was born singing! Notably, I have been the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony with the Whittier Regional Symphony, and have performed in the roles of Tamino in The Magic Flute and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at CSUF. I have been singing at Anaheim United Methodist Church since 2017.

I’m very excited to take on this new role of leadership at this church! Music is such an important part of my life and plays an important role in the life of the church. I look forward to being an instrument through which that music can continue to breathe new life into Anaheim United Methodist Church and finding ways to help bring that same music out into the community. Thank you all so much for honoring me and trusting me with this position. I look forward to making music with all of you!

Huan Nguyen

My name is Huan Nguyen, and I will be the new communication coordinator.

I am a recent graduate student at CSULB majoring in Marketing. I have previously worked as a marketing intern for the CSULB College of Business, where the students have real-life experience working with small businesses. Also, during my education, I was a digital marketing intern for Hair Taxi Mobile Company, where my goal was to spread awareness for a mobile barber who prioritized senior haircuts.

Some of my interests are listening to music, eating food, hiking, reading, and playing video games. An interesting fact about me is I broke my arm when I was young, and now I have stitches that look like a centipede on my right arm. I look forward to meeting you all and hopefully creating some interesting content shortly!

Emilio Tello

I was born and raised in Southern California. My faith journey has included 11 years at a Lutheran school, 4 years at a Catholic school, international non denominational Christian missionary work, and involvement with the United Methodist church for the past 8 years.

I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Music from California State University, Long Beach with a primary emphasis on voice and a secondary emphasis on cultural anthropology.

I have been playing in, and leading, bands for the past 12 years as a guitarist and vocalist in styles ranging from jazz to classical, and pop to blues.

I particularly love the welcoming community at Anaheim UMC and am grateful to be a part of that fellowship by helping people grow in their faith through music.

Outside of the church, my work includes recording, performing, and teaching locally. When not working, I most enjoy outdoor activities like camping and hiking, and spending time with my wife, Krystal, and our son, Elias.

Miguel Rodriguez