Bethel United Methodist Church

Reverend John Parille is our Senior Pastor and oversees the Bethel United Methodist Church and the Long Ridge United Methodist Church. Pastor John comes to us with years of business, sales and marketing experience. This experience coupled with his depth of spirituality, passion for bringing Christ to the world and his love for people, offers a major contribution to our our ministry team here at BUMC.

Pastor John began his pastoral ministry by serving as an Associate Pastor at New Life UMC in New Fairfield CT in 2010. Since that time, Pastor John as served at the Gaylordsville UMC from 2013 until 2016. He has been the  Senior Pastor at the Bethel UMC as well as the Long Ridge UMC since 2016. Pastor John is also the Parish Leader for the Western Frontier Parish groups which consists of 6 local Methodist churches.

In addition to handling the normal pastoral duties of preaching, teaching and visitation— Pastor John helps our church by putting a face to our church out in the community. He develops strategies to help fulfill the segment of our mission to make Jesus known beyond our four walls.

This includes reaching local families who are unchurched, developing evangelism teams, working closely with our leaders and members  to provide instruction on evangelism, follow-up of visitors and developing marketing strategies to make our ministry known in the Greater Bethel area.

Pastor John is married to his wife Maria and they have four daughters as well as a grandson named Jack.

Ted Hartlett lives in Newtown, CT and is married to Ibel.  They have five children and four grandchildren.

Ted has been serving in ministry since 1985 as a worship leader, preacher, small group facilitator, men's ministry leader and elder.  He believes that these are exciting times to be a Christ follower and longs to see many come to worship in Spirit and in truth.  

Ted worked most of his adult life as a communications professional with a focus on media and live event production. He is now helping homeowners move to solar power for their homes and consulting with churches throughout New England to upgrade their audio visual systems.  He has been an employee of Duracell in Bethel and owner of several businesses.  He has a heart to serve and that has been rewarded in the marketplace.  

Ted is excited to be part of the Bethel United Methodist Church ministry team and looks forward to seeing how the LORD will use this congregation to continue loving and serving the local community.

Jessica Bardelli was born and raised here in Bethel, and is a lifelong member of Bethel United Methodist Church. She was brought up in the BUMC community, attending Sunday School with Linda Van Tassel, one of her first musical influences. 

Jessica began playing the clarinet in 1991, and has since become accomplished in all woodwind instruments as well as piano. She went on to pursue a career in music, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Music Education, with a focus in saxophone.

Jessica is the Director of Sales and School Services at Bethel Music Center, and teachers private lessons as well. She is an active area musician, singing and playing with Crosstown, and singing with her quartet, Hangtime; along with many other musical endeavors.

In her spare time, Jessica enjoys baking and volunteering with Appalachia Service Project, and is an active member of the Tres Dias community of Fairfield County.

Sarah holds her B.A. from Barnard College, where she studied Urban Studies and Music. After graduating Sarah spent two years serving in the Peace Corps in Mauritania, West Africa. She has been teaching piano, singing, and accompanying choirs since her return to the U.S. in 2009.

Sarah started singing in the BUMC choir in 2011, and became our pianist in 2017. Sarah's other interests include martial arts, calligraphy, and learning to play the organ. Her future goals are to continue playing, teaching, and learning music for as long as possible!