Rev. Christiane Depestre
Christiane Depestre (pronounced: Chris-ti-anne De-pest) was appointed to serve as Pastor of the churches and communities of the Lake and River Parish (the Little White Church in Point Peninsula, the United Church of Cape Vincent and the Three Mile Bay United Methodist Church) of the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church.
In July 2018, she joined the Mohawk District of the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC), where she was appointed to serve as pastor of two local congregations: Perryville UMC and Peterboro UMC. In July 2019, a new charge was added to serve at Clockville UMC. Since her appointments in July 2018, she became the Chaplain of the Smithfield Fire Department in Peterboro and the Chaplain of the Smithfield Eaton Volunteer Ambulance Corporation (SEVAC) in Morrisville, NY.
She has earned a Master of Divinity from Drew University and hopes to engage in doctoral studies in the future. Pastor Depestre cares deeply for people and has a passion for pastoral care and counseling, preaching, mission and evangelism. She loves God and firmly believes that she is called to serve wherever God plants her. She looks forward to engage in children and youth ministry, laity empowerment, community work and connect well with the members of her congregations as well as the members of the communities she is called to serve, and members of civic and voluntary organizations. She is the proud mother of two sons, Micah and Kristoff, and grandmother of two grandsons (Stefan and Silas). She has a special love for family, and is quite gregarious. Her hobbies are singing, reading, cooking and baking, swimming, playing board games. She lives by her motto “The Joy of The Lord is my strength”.