Our Staff

Reverend Varonica M. Livingston
Pastor, pastor@newcreationumcnc.org
A lifelong United Methodist, Varonica grew up in Red Springs, a small town in southeastern North Carolina. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Pembroke State University (currently UNC-Pembroke) and attended Duke Divinity. Varonica is an Elder in the NC Conference of the United Methodist Church, ordained in 2016. She began serving at New Creation as pastor in June 2020 after serving as the pastor of Millers Chapel UMC for nine years and Beauty Spot UMC for eight years. She has a background in education, sales, and economic development. She has gifts of preaching, teaching, and leadership development.
During a transitional time in her life, Varonica heard and obeyed God’s call to preach the gospel. She credits her grandmother, the late Velma B. Morton, for laying a solid spiritual foundation in her life. She has a passion for youth, children, and seniors. She believes the church should be an extension of God’s love for all people.
Varonica shares her life journey with her husband, Lee. They have four children, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She and Lee enjoy watching Family Feud and Andy Griffith reruns, listening to jazz music, and spending time with their grandchildren.

Melanie Blom
Administrative Assistant, secretary@newcreationumcnc.org

Rufus French
Custodian
Rufus French has been employed by New Creation UMC since August 2019 as the custodian. Rufus attended Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC, majoring in chemistry. He worked 17 years in the laboratory as a chemical processor with Fiber and Armageddon Chemical. Rufus retired from First Baptist Church in Durham after 22 1/2 years as the lead custodian and building engineer. He is married to Rhonda Powell French. His favorite pastimes are listening to music and doing yard work.

Yo Gidney
Nursery Attendant
Yo Gidney was born in Columbus, Ohio to Charles and Dee Gidney. She has one sister, Natalie. Her first experience with church was with Mentor Community Church of God (MCCG) in Mentor, Ohio. By age 10, she was volunteering in the church nursery at MCCG. She was the neighborhood “sitter” in both Ohio and in North Carolina. She realized her passion with children in high school when she took an elective course called early childhood education. In college, she studied and majored in child development and family relations. Upon graduation from UNC-Greensboro, she began working for Durham Public Schools as an Instructional Assistant. Currently, she works as a Behavior Support Specialist for the school system, which includes providing direct services to students whose behaviors impede access to general instruction. Her parents have been members of New Creation since inception and knew a great connection for her with church would be working in the nursery. Her hobbies include board games, hiking, weight training, walking, and hanging out with kids. She also enjoys playing 4-square and table tennis.

Sharon Parks
Nursery Attendant
Sharon is married and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren. She enjoys traveling, reading, and relaxing with her family. Working with children has been her inspiration for over 20 years, where she has cared for infants to school-agers. Her passion one day is to become a coordinator of developmental growth instruction in childcare.

Ernest Turner
Music Director
Award-winning and Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Ernest Turner’s professional career has spanned 20 years, and has included performances and recordings with some of the biggest names in jazz and pop music, including Delfeayo Marsalis, John Legend, Raphael Saadiq, and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. His latest album, My Americana (2019), offers an understated “ode to black American music” rooted in an innovative reimagination of pieces by Stevie Wonder, Fats Waller, and others, alongside original compositions. In addition to an active performance schedule, he has conducted numerous music clinics and educational performances, and was a former faculty member at East Carolina University. Turner placed second in the 2019 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition, and his trio was selected as the winner of the 2019 DCJazzPrix Competition.
M.M. University of New Orleans (2005)
B.M. Loyola University New Orleans (2003)

Theous Jones
Musician

Robert Weeks
Technology Lead
Robert Weeks has been a member of New Creation since 2018. He has a wife, Nicolette Weeks, and a two-year-old child, Hamilton. He may have been born in Virginia, but he was raised in many places, including Germany, where he first got a taste of electronics. He graduated from Jones County High School in 2000 and eventually served his country during a pair of deployments, once as a United States Army soldier and the other as a North Carolina National Guardsman. He currently lives in Durham, where from his previous churches and now New Creation, he has slowly learned and developed his technical skills from Microsoft Office to video editing and video switching. As our Technology Lead, he aims to help create the best version of New Creation possible.