Staff

Deb graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems in 1986. She worked in the financial industry, held several security licenses and eventually became the Director of Marketing of a Denver-based financial advisory firm. After over a decade in that industry, Deb resigned to be with her two boys to help them navigate their way through middle and high school. She became a career volunteer, serving in local schools and church ministry. Deb grew up in the church and gave her life to Jesus as a young person. She loves to serve the Lord and now has the privilege of working as The River Conference’s Administrator. Deb and her husband John live in Wyoming and have two adult sons.

Rick has planted, pastored, and mentored pastors for over 35 years. He mentored Conference Superintendents, and as Assistant Superintendent, mentored 71 pastors in the PNW Conference as well as many others outside the denomination. He and his wife Patti planted churches in Vallejo CA, Redmond WA, Mt. Vernon WA, and Nampa, DI. They live Granbury Texas where Rick serves as North Texas District Superintendent and as Director of Church Planting and Multiplication for The River Conference. Rick serves on the board of Impact, a multiplication movement where he has coached and mentored several micro churches and impact community leaders. Rick also coaches business owners and CEOs in organizational health as a way staying connected to the secular market place where the voice of Jesus needs to be heard. He works hard every day to walk out his life purpose to, “be living proof of a loving God to a watching world.” Ricks primary educational influences were Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific, Western Evangelical Seminary, Regent and Fuller. Rick and Patti have been married for 43 years, have three sons who are married and serving Jesus and have been blessed with 9 grandchildren.

Kasey was born in Palm Springs, CA, but grew up primarily in Temecula and Hemet. He grew up in a loving home surrounded by people who loved and followed Jesus with all of their hearts.  Despite this fact, it was not until attending college locally at Mt. San Jacinto College that he came to an intellectual conversion and placed his faith in Jesus – the heart conversion took a little bit longer. God used a diagnosis of Clinical Depression in 1995 to initiate a relationship based on love that would alter things entirely. After graduating from MSJC, Kasey pursued his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Biola University.  In 1999, having graduated from Biola, he returned home to Hemet and began serving God through involvement in the ministry of his local church.  It became clear around 2002 that God had some new things in store for his life; Kasey got connected with the Free Methodist Church and sensed a deeper call to serve God in vocational ministry.  This led to completing seminary at Asbury Theological Seminary in 2009 and then pursuing Ordination with the Free Methodist Church in 2012.

Rev. Clay Utley is a seasoned youth ministry leader with a wealth of experience in leading regional youth networks and coaching youth pastors. A graduate of Abilene Christian University, he spent 15 years serving full-time in youth and children’s ministry at churches in Tucson, AZ and Washington State. He currently works full-time in the marketplace in sales and volunteers with youth and kids programs at his local church in San Antonio, TX.  Clay is leading The River Conference’s partnership with the Tenx10 initiative to launch a new faith formation strategy that  makes faith matter for 10,000,000 young people in the next ten years.