Brandi Grant-Rigsby, new pastor of First United Methodist Church, will preach her first sermon in Ada on Sunday, June 25.

She already had an Ada connection as a 2005 Ohio Northern University graduate with a degree in psychology and youth ministry.

“I am thrilled to be moving back to Ada and having the opportunity to raise my kids in this town that has always felt like home to me,” she told The Icon.

Originally from Ayersville, the new pastor earned a master’s of divinity degree from Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Delaware, in 2011.

She served 12 years in youth ministry at Calvary United Methodist in Cridersville, Trinity United Methodist in Chillicothe, and First United Methodist in Newark, before taking her first appointment as the pastor at Raymond United Methodist and Caldwell Memorial United Methodist, where she served the past three years.

She was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church at Lakeside earlier this month.

She and her husband, Justin, celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on June 20. The couple has two girls: Hailey, 3, and Harper, 19-months.