News Update from Jeffrey Dodson ’06
News update from the First Congregational Church in Ripon, WI –
On Sunday, July 21st, we will welcome Reverend Jeffrey Dodson, his wife Ashley, and their three daughters: Ainslie who is almost 4 years old, and 17-month-old twins Eleanor (Ellie) and Frances (Frankie) into our congregation.
For Jeffrey and Ashley, their lives together began as camp counselors at Pilgrim Center in the summer of 2009. A native of the Colorado Springs area, Jeffrey spent two years at Colorado State University before transferring to Ripon College in August 2003. As some of you may remember, he was the Christian Education Coordinator in this church for two years. He graduated from Ripon in 2006 with a Theater major and Religious Studies minor.
Jeffrey’s family has many ties to the UCC church. His twin brother Jonathan is a UCC-ordained minister who is currently a Chaplain in Hudson, Ohio, while Jeffrey’s sister-in-law is also an ordained UCC pastor and is the Associate Minister at First Congregational in Hudson. Jeffrey’s mother is currently moderator of her church in Hawaii. Jeffrey has two more brothers and his father liv- ing in southern California.
Ashley is from Monticello, Wisconsin, where her immediate family still lives. In addition, she has a number of extended family members in and around Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. She is a 2009 graduate of Viterbo University with a BA in Religious Studies and minors in Psychology and Servant Leadership.
After their summer at Pilgrim Center, Jeffrey and Ashley headed off for their first year at seminary, Jeffrey to Chicago Theological Seminary and Ashley to Eden Seminary in St. Louis. After a year, Ashley transferred to Chicago Theological Seminary where they graduated with their Master of Divinity degrees in May 2014. While still in seminary, Ashley and Jeffrey returned to
Pilgrim Center for a second time and were married in Ley Chapel on October 6, 2012.
Between 2014 and their 2016 move to Grand Junction, Colorado, they were co-Executive Directors at a UCC camp in Vermont. Following that, Jeffrey was a hospital Chaplain in Littleton, Colorado. They went to another UCC camp in Iowa where Ashley served as the Program and Facilities Manager before moving to Grand Junction where Jeffrey served as a short-term Pulpit Supply Minister. When the Senior Minister position opened up permanently in Grand Junction, the Search Committee gave him the opportunity to apply for the job and he was installed. Earlier in that year he was ordained through the Southwest Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference in Colorado.
Jeffrey’s hobbies include theater, hiking, the outdoors, sports, micro brews, science, being a dad, Star Trek and reading science fiction and historical biographies. Ash- ley loves photography, hiking, kayaking, chasing after the girls and cooking.