Our Team

The Reverend Kathy La Point-Collup joined the Asbury staff in July 2018. Pastor Kathy has also served United Methodist Churches in Elk Grove, Sutter Creek, Linden, and Modesto–all in California.

She experienced a call to ordained ministry in high school and completed her B.A. at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and Masters of Divinity at Drew University School of Theology in Madison, New Jersey. Throughout her ministry, Kathy has had a passion for small group ministry, mission trips, preaching, walking with people through difficult times, justice ministries, and helping the church be in service to the local community.

Kathy is married to Steve Collup who is a retired helicopter and airplane mechanic. In her free time, Kathy enjoys traveling, snorkeling, walking, reading, going to movies/live theater and baking/gourmet cooking.

...coming soon!

Rev. Heather Leslie Hammer was an active congregational member at Asbury for many years before going to seminary and becoming a second-career pastor. She served several churches in the California-Nevada Conference, and now is back at Asbury in retirement.

Heather enjoys preaching, planning worship, teaching, and talking with people one-on-one. Her husband Jim works at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory as a physicist, and they have two children, Leslie and Sepp.

Martina recently moved to Livermore from Washington state with her family and they are loving the people and sunshine! She was drawn to Asbury because of the commitment to community development and welcoming people of all backgrounds.

Martina's favorite part of her job is that no two days are the same and she gets to meet new people every day. When she is not working, she loves to travel and explore local restaurants.

Ruth Hawley is our Facilities Manager for the Asbury campus. She coordinates requests for use of any of the facilities, including the Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, Conference Room and classrooms.  If you have questions about using our facilities please contact her at the number below.

Ruth has lived in Livermore since 1984. She spent 33 years working at LLNL before retiring. She has attended Asbury since 1986, and has been active in many committees and volunteer roles at Asbury UMC since then. She joined the staff in 2020. Ruth has three grown children and several pets, and enjoys gardening, walking, reading, movies and yoga in her spare time.

Lori Day is new to the Asbury Staff, but has been a church member for over 20 years. She taught elementary school for 32 years and during those  years has directed Asbury’s Rainbow and High School Choirs. Before joining the Asbury Ringers, she gladly sang with the adult choir!

Music, children and handbells have brought her great joy, along with her dog, Max. Lori enjoys flyfishing, water aerobics, yoga and playing with her two grandsons.

Rebecca got her start in ministry back in 2015 when she worked as a children’s ministry intern for University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, and continued to work and volunteer with their many young people’s ministries until 2018, when she moved back down to California to be the Director of Youth Ministries at San Ramon Valley UMC. Rebecca worked there for almost 3 years before she left to pursue an MA in Viking and Medieval Norse studies at the University of Iceland.

In her free time, you can usually find Rebecca at Story Coffee reading fantasy books or talking an unsuspecting stranger’s ear off about Vikings!

Jean Braun moved to Livermore from Madison, Wisconsin with her new husband in 1984. She and Dave joined Asbury in February 1985 after discovering this active, musical community. Asbury was instrumental in providing a home-away-from–home for these two Midwesterners and their two daughters, now adults, living and working in San Jose.

Jean directs Rainbow Choir (Grades 3-5), Faith Choir (adults) and recruits volunteers to provide vocal and instrumental music throughout the year. Her passions are teaching music, baking, and eating and distributing chocolate at every opportunity.

Fernanda Van Atta joined the Asbury staff in June 2020 as Worship Accompanist and Director of Asbury Ringers. She is the primary pianist and organist for the worship services and directs the handbell choir.

Fernanda holds a B.A. in music education and viola performance from Concordia University Irvine. She has taught several musical subjects and instruments and is a violist with the Livermore-Amador Symphony and Valley Dance Theatre Orchestra. Fernanda is a member of the professional handbell ensemble Sonos, and has substituted for several local ensembles including Velocity, Bay Bells, and Tapestry. She has been a substitute musician for Faith Lutheran Church of Castro Valley since 2022. Prior to Asbury, Fernanda worked for Lutheran Music Program as a musician and administrator between 2016 and 2021.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, playing with her dog, and making the occasional craft.

Johnny is a Livermore native who loves to help the less fortunate. 

G. Allen Schell has the distinction of being not only the oldest staff member, he also has been at Asbury since 1963, the longest of any staff. He received his Music degree (piano) in 1956 and studied organ privately, and still does. He began accompanying choirs when a student and has directed since 1960.

In 1973, he and his wife participated in a seven-week concert tour of southern Germany, which expanded his life-long love of the organ. He began playing electric keyboard with Asbury’s Band in 1994, which, while a challenge, has also been a growth experience. In each new musical adventure, he has found an opportunity to expand his service to the Church.