St. HELENA - The Haven Church in St. Helena has a new female pastor Josie Asencio, the "first female lead pastor" in the NCC according the The Haven website.
JOSIE Asencio (ah-SEN-see-oh) was born and raised in Southern California. She began pastoring in 2005 at the Campus Hill Church in Loma Linda, CA. Since then, she has graduated from La Sierra University with a BA in Religious studies; Andrews University with a Master of Divinity and is currently working on her doctorate in Pastoral Care and Counseling.
'Pastor' Asencio was ordained as a minister of the gospel in 2014. She has also been trained as a hospital chaplain and completed 2000 hours of supervised chaplaincy training. She most recently accepted a position at The Haven in Northern California Conference where she will be serving as the only current female Lead Pastor in the conference.
Pastor Asencio enjoys spending quality time with her friends and family, photography, extreme sports and going on adventures! Her life verse is 1 JOHN 4:11-12. She loves talking about Jesus and being a part of helping people make a decision to accept Jesus into their heart.
Matthew Gamble was the previous pastor of the Haven Church.
****