Rev. Dawn Reichard was born and raised in eastern Pennsylvania. From the beginning, she was exposed to many Christian traditions: baptized in a Lutheran Church, confirmed as a Moravian, taught Sunday School in a Presbyterian Church, and later ordained in the United Methodist Church!

While living in Pennsylvania, Dawn had been a public school educator, working in both elementary and special education, as well as completing post-Master's work and certification as a school administrator. She graduated magna cum laude (M.Div. degree) from Perkins School of Theology, (SMU, Dallas) in 1990, and then moved to Jacksonville, Florida where she began the process of joining the Florida Annual Conference.

Pastor Dawn served as the first Associate Pastor of Mandarin UMC for 3 1/2 years, and then was asked to become the founding pastor of a new congregation on the other side of the St. John's River (in the Jacksonville area). In June 2002, Pastor Dawn was appointed as the first female Senior Pastor to Christ By The Sea UMC. She came to St. John's as our lead pastor in July, 2010.

Pastor Dawn enjoys regularly attending theater productions, the current releases at the movies and dancing. She also loves to eat at local restaurants, read, and travel abroad and in the States.

Among Pastor Dawn's top spiritual gifts are creative communication, leadership, teaching and administration. She is passionate about vibrant worship that incorporates the arts and uses multi-sensory experiences to draw people more deeply into the presence and experience of God. She has a love and affinity for nominal Christians and those newly exploring Christianity who are open to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.