Rev. Burke Owens is a member of the California Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church serving churches throughout the San Francisco Bay area.  Burke was ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church in 2018 and was awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 2017 from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.
Burke grew up in New England, went to college in New York City, and lived with his wife in a spiritual community in upstate New York, located in a former Shaker village. Burke’s call to spirit has been a core part of his life for decades and continues to inspire, motivate, and remind him of God’s grace, Christ’s love and the spirit’s continuing renewal of creation.

Rev. Joan Pell is a retired elder in the California-Nevada Annual Conference. She serves, in a volunteer capacity, as the Conference Caretaker of God’s Creation Coordinator and as the Chair of the Conference Climate Justice Ministries Task Force. She also maintains the task force climate-cnumc.org website. In retirement, Joan enjoys having more time to travel, visiting her grandchildren, and pursuing advocacy and justice issues. She dreams of a just world with a safe and sustainable future where all of God’s creation is valued.

Rev. Jonathan Brake grew up in Charlotte, NC, where his family was a charter member of University City UMC. Ordained in 2000, he has served churches across much of the Piedmont area of North Carolina. In 2016, Jonathan became one of the first Global Ministries EarthKeepers. His EarthKeepers project was to start the Creation Care Ministry of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. He also helped to launch the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, where he still serves in leadership roles. From 2022-2025, Jonathan served on staff with the UMC General Board of Global Ministries as the Environmental Sustainability Program Manager. In the summer of 2025, he started a new pastoral appointment, half-time as the Eco-Missions and Creation Care Coordinator for the Western NC Conference and half-time as the missions pastor at First UMC, Hickory, NC.

Kim Richmond is a commissioned Global Ministries EarthKeeper and the current lay chairperson of the Western NC Conference’s Creation Care Ministry team. She also is a Climate Reality Leader and a self-professed “bird nerd” who is active in her local Audubon chapter’s advocacy efforts. In 2016 Kim wrote legislation passed by General Conference for good stewardship of church lands, and contributed to other legislation that prioritized creation care across the United Methodist denomination. Kim is pleased to be a part of the organizing team for the upcoming conference-wide Bishop’s Climate Summit being held on April 18th at her home church, where she started and continues to engage in its increasingly active Creation Care Ministry. She’s also the proud mom of three young adults and her fur baby, Bentley (also pictured).     

Rev. Ellen Comstock is a Virginia Conference retired Elder living in Portsmouth, VA, with her husband and 3 dogs. She has served as a Church Pastor, as an Extension Minister in Pastoral Counseling (LPC), and as a Transitional Intentional Interim Ministry Specialist. She is a Global Ministries EarthKeeper, trained in 2016, Clergy Co-Chair of the VA Conference Board of Church and Society which serves also as the conference Creation Justice Committee. She is passionate about hands-on work for herself and faith groups in mitigating flooding and erosion from sea level rise and restoring tree canopy in urban settings.

Dr. Karen McElfish is a Global Ministries EarthKeeper. Her home conference is the Virginia Conference, where she serves as the United Women in Faith President and is a member of the Virginia Creation Justice team and co-chair of the Conference Legislative Network. She leads the Annual Conference Organizing team for the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement.