The Rev. Casey Bradley of Richfield Springs has been named pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Oneonta. He will begin July 2, filling the spot held for five years by the Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell, who is retiring.
Bishop Hector Burgos appointed Bradley, 36, after the local staff-parish committee interviewed him and gave a positive review. Bradley holds a bachelor’s degree in social work received in 2009 from SUNY Plattsburgh. He graduated from the Boston University School of Theology in 2012.
Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell is a UM pastor in Oneonta, Rev. Dana Horrell, Cooperstown. (Jennifer Hill/AllOTSEGO.com)
COOPERSTOWN – Call them a Power Couple of The Cloth.
Rev. Dana Horrell begins his ministry Sunday, July 7, at Cooperstown United Methodist Church, while 32 miles down the road, his wife, Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell, the same day will celebrate her first anniversary as pastor of Oneonta’s First United Methodist Church.
They’re the second such United Methodist husband-and-wife clerical team, joining the Revs. Daniel and Donna Martin, he at Worcester; she at Elm Park in Oneonta.
Horrell succeeds Rev. Thomas LeBeau, who the same day will be presiding at his first service at Kidder Memorial UM Church in Jamestown, after serving three years in Cooperstown. Swords-Horrell succeeded Rev. Teresa Sivers, who was transferred to Ithaca last year.
