Our Team

Erick is humbled and honored to serve as the Superintendent of the Shoreline Conference. Prior to this role, he served as Superintendent of the North Michigan Conference and as the Director of Coaching for Mission Igniter, a church-planting incubator in the Free Methodist Church. He has also pastored Free Methodist congregations in Southern Michigan and the Chicagoland area.

Erick has been married to his wife, Bekki, also an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church, since October 2004. Together they have three sons: Noah, William, and Miles. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Organizational Leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary.

Outside of ministry, Erick enjoys watching his boys play sports, running, kayaking, reading, smoking meat, discovering new restaurants, and most of all, making memories with his family.

Jennifer has been the Lead Pastor of Center Street Free Methodist Church since 2020, in her hometown, Belding. She brings a broad and comprehensive ministry background that includes, but is not limited to, church planting, youth ministry, spiritual formation, retreat leadership, coaching, and church revitalization.

Jennifer is currently working on her M.Div. with a focus on Transformational Leadership at Northeastern Seminary. She is also a trained leadership coach with Mission Igniter. Jennifer has served at a conference level as a Board member and as a Delegate to the General Conference.

Jennifer has a heart for coaching and mentoring pastors and leaders, helping them grow in their gifts and vision for ministry. She also has a passion for the educational side of ministry and is dedicated to resourcing pastors with whatever support they need to thrive. She looks forward to serving the new Shoreline Conference as Director of Pastoral Development and is eager to see it flourish and succeed in every aspect.

She and her husband, Lee, are proud parents to three boys: Bryce, Bronne, and Bentley. As a family, they are heavily involved in the school system and community. They love making memories vacationing and camping, but mostly like to do anything as long as it’s together.

Rob Daniels has faithfully served in ministry for nearly 40 years, holding various church leadership roles and has extensive experience as an Executive Pastor in multiple settings. He most recently served as Senior Pastor of Ferndale Free Methodist Church, located in Ferndale, MI, just north of Detroit. 

Rob and his wife, Ruthie, have four children. Their desire continues to be that their unique experience as a multi-ethnic family will help further the kingdom of God. 

As a family, they have served churches in Calgary, the suburbs of Chicago, Indianapolis, and Seattle. Both Rob and Ruthie earned B.A. degrees in Christian Education from Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois. Rob has served as a member of the Executive Board for the North American Christian Convention. He also served as a thought leader for the Race & Restoration Summit. Rob is trained as a Spiritual Director and Executive Leadership Coach. He is currently a member of the Executive Board for the Justice Network for the Free Methodist Church USA. 

Rob is excited about serving in the role of Director of Operations for the Shoreline Conference of Michigan of the Free Methodist Church, USA. He looks forward to meeting you in the upcoming months and walking alongside you in ministry.

Derik grew up in the Chelsea Free Methodist Church (now New Harvest) and was ordained as an Elder in 2016. He resides in Ann Arbor with his wife, Kim, and their three wonderful kids, Hannah, Lily, and Samuel.

Derik holds M.Div. and M.A. degrees, along with a leadership certificate from Asbury Theological Seminary. Derik also serves as the Director of Guides at Sequoias Coaching & Consulting. Derik is an ICF certified coach at the PCC level.

Derik is passionate about seeing people experience hope, healing, and wholeness in and through Jesus Christ, as well as seeing every person given purpose through joining God in His mission and great story of redemption as disciple-makers and everyday missionaries.

Derik has been church planting and coaching/training church planters since 2017. He helped plant Plowshares BIC (now a part of Open-Door Lexington Church) and planted/pastored Evergreen Church from conception to succession in the Ann Arbor area. He comes to this position also with a diversity of experiences with conference and non-profit leadership roles.

Brett Heintzman has been encouraging prayer in the FMCUSA for over 17 years, teaching, preaching, and authoring the book, Becoming a Person of Prayer. Having grown up in the Western NY, Brett and his wife barb now live in Flint, Michigan and both serve the Communications Ministry of the Free Methodist Church USA, where Brett is the Director of Communications.

Brett has a heart for seeing prayer deepen in the lives of every believer in the Shoreline Conference and looks forward to empowering regional leaders and spreading the joy that comes through deepening our prayer lives with the Lord.

Ashley has been providing administrative support within the Free Methodist Church since July 2018. Before moving to Michigan, she worked for nine years in banking and administration in Washington State.

Ashley has been married to her husband, Dustin, since July 2011, and together they have two sons: Max and Miles. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve and support the mission and ministry of the Shoreline Conference.

Julie and her husband, Dwight, have been married for 47 years and have been in full-time ministry for 45 of those years. Julie comes with years of experience with MEG work and as an Administrative Assistant in multiple FMC Conferences. Prior to that, she served in several church and para-church organizations.  She loves to organize and create processes to help systems flow smoothly.

Dwight and Julie live in Elkhart, Indiana, where they are planting a network of micro-churches in the Michiana area (Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan). They have three grown children and seven grandchildren.  Her pastime is spending time with her family and enjoys doing life with them.