Our Church Team
Pastor Clayton
Silverbrook UMC welcomes Rev. Clayton Childers as its new Pastor on July 7, 2024.
He and his wife, Pastor Denise, served churches in the South Carolina Conference for ten years before he was hired to work at the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in Washington DC. There he served as Director of Conference Relations and as Director of Advocacy for the United Methodist Imagine No Malaria Campaign. After nineteen years with GBCS, he retired Feb 1, 2020 (one month before Covid hit).
Clayton is a people person – he loves meeting new people, sharing stories, and building relationships. He describes himself as a teacher-preacher. He loves learning and growing in faith with others. His favorite theme, one you will hear frequently, is “the loving arms of Christ open to welcome every soul”
Clayton was born in Texas and raised in Tennessee and Georgia. His parents were both educators. He attended high school at Avondale High in east Atlanta, college at Furman University in Greenville SC, and seminary at Southeastern in Wake Forest NC. In 1998 he earned a Doctor of Ministry from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. He has been an active member of Grace UMC, Manassas. He, Denise, and daughter Allison, and her family are all active members at Grace. Clayton has enjoyed singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, helping with English language classes. Over the last two years Clayton has served an interim pastor including stints at Dumfries UMC, Pleasant Valley UMC – Chantilly, and Bethel UMC in Warrenton.Clayton attended seminary at Southeastern in Wake Forest, NC. In 1998 he earned a Doctor of Ministry from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
Carolyn Eng - Music Director
Carolyn Eng has been playing in churches since she was 16, which is a pretty long time. She likes all styles of worship music, directing the Silverbrook Singers, singing a capella, teaching piano and making quilts. Since COVID, Carolyn has jumped into the foray of virtual choir management as well as supporting A/V for our online services! There’s virtually nothing Carolyn can’t do!
Myrna Meling - Office Administrator
Myrna Meling has been with us since 2004 and has kept the wheels on the bus every week. She has been a UMC member since 1987 and serves on the executive board of the Alexandria District United Methodist Women. Myrna has lived in Northern Virginia since 1973 and is active in her local UMC church and Silverbrook. If you want to know what’s going on in the wider Methodist community, Myrna’s the right woman for the job!