Davis Ford named Pen-Del's new ministries director
By Melissa Lauber
In all things, the Rev. Jacqueline “Jackie” Davis Ford intentionally and actively seeks to follow God. It’s the cornerstone of her faith. Recently, this has led her into a new position as the Director of Connectional Ministries for the Peninsula-Delaware Conference.
“I guess you could say it’s my thing – to follow God. I see God in the small things and the big things. I pray to God, ask God to show me the way I should go, and God does – in a variety of ways.”
After a 23-year career in sales and marketing in the corporate sector, God led Davis Ford into ministry. She was ordained as an Elder in 2018 and pastored Dale UMC in Middletown, Del., Lee-Haven UMC in Townsend, Del., and Marshallton UMC in Wilmington, Del.
When Bishop LaTrelle Easterling appointed Davis Ford to the position of the conference Director of Connectional Ministry, Davis Ford immediately embraced the possibilities.
The bishop said she was excited to work with Davis Ford, moving boldly into the future of The United Methodist Church. “The needs in our community are myriad, and the Director of Connectional Ministries is a pivotal strategic partner in meeting those needs, charting new paths and embodying hope,” Easterling said. “As servant leaders, we will work together to keep the main thing the main thing – making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
One of the primary tasks of the Director of Connectional Ministries is being the steward of the conference’s vision. For the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, this means equipping “100 percent of churches to be 100 percent vital.”
“Vitality -- so what does that mean? It means meeting the needs of community: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, working for justice,” Davis Ford said. “I don’t think we should hide behind the walls of the church. The work is done in the streets.
“This means getting back to being more spiritual and less political,” she continued. “We need to put our personal agendas on hold and start looking at what God is calling us to do. We must make disciples and be disciples, showing grace, mercy, and love.”
Part of pursuing vitality also means embracing the connectional system, which binds United Methodists in sharing ministry, enabling people to do together what they could never achieve alone. “There is so much power in being connectional,” she said. “We’re not taking full advantage of it.”
Davis Ford realizes that “these are difficult times in the church,” but she sees herself as a bridge-builder and hopes to bring people together in conversation and to work together in unity.
But claiming the vision God has for the church will take effort and faith. It will take a willingness to follow God. In addition to a myriad of skills learned in the corporate world, this sense of obedience and risk-taking are gifts Davis Ford believes she brings to her new ministry.
When she was beginning college at Morgan State University, she remembers, she showed up on campus still not sure what major she wanted to pursue. She stood on the quadrangle with five paths before her, each leading to a different departmental building.
She asked God to lead her on the right path and began walking. When she arrived at the building, she asked someone what department she had arrived at.
He replied, “This is the chemistry building.” In that moment she became a chemistry major and excelled in her studies.
Incidents like this happen repeatedly to her as she listens and responds to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. “I believe God has had a hand on my life,” she said.
She shares this faith with her husband, Paul; the five children in their blended family and her grandchildren.
As a family, they enjoy doing athletic things, like bowling together, and sharing meals and playing games around the family table. Davis Ford also enjoys reading and doing puzzles.
As part of her spiritual disciplines, she does daily devotions and finds inspiration in Joshua 1:1-9, a Scripture passage that guides her steps. In this story of God’s commission to Joshua as the Hebrews enter the Promised Land, God instructs: “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Davis Ford is counting on that – for herself and the people of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference. “I’m here to serve,” she said.