Reverend Lori Miller is a native New Yorker, raised on Long Island in the Lutheran Church. Lori embraced the United Methodist faith while at Williams College; and following seminary at Harvard Divinity School, was ordained an Elder in 1987 by the New York Annual Conference. She has served churches in Poughkeepsie, Newburgh and Pound Ridge, New York as well as Gaylordsville and Wilton, Connecticut prior to her arrival in Newtown in 2016. While in Newburgh, Lori became involved in conflict resolution within local churches, prompting her to return to school in 2002 for a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology at Teacher’s College.
Lori has served on numerous district and conference committees, including current membership on the Board of Ordained Ministry. One of her great joys is mentoring candidates for ministry. Her passion is deepening the call that every follower of Christ has to love and serve God “best of all.”
Lori is married to the Reverend Dr. John Halbrook, a Baptist clergy and psychotherapist with a private practice in New York City and Beacon, New York. They have an adult son and 3 very lively grandchildren.
In her spare time, Lori enjoys reading, exercise, going to movies and talking theology, politics and philosophy as well as other Big Ideas over dinner.
Reverend E. Sue Klein has been the Minister of Music and organist at NUMC for many years. As a native of the Midwest, Iowa and Illinois, she graduated with a BA in Music Education from Illinois Wesleyan University. Prior to her move to Connecticut, she lived on Long Island where she directed the music ministry at Woodbury UMC. Her husband George was very active there as well as here at NUMC before his untimely death. Sue’s family includes their 4 children, Jeff, Leslie, Laura, and Martha, and eleven grandchildren!
Sue’s tenure here at NUMC has been very active both within the church as well as within the surrounding community. Her involvement has included everything from teaching Confirmation classes to active leadership in the music ministry program at Garner Correctional Institution. She spent many years involved with Church Women United in Newtown as well as serving the CT District and New York Annual Conference. Sue maintains a strong connection to the Quinipet Camp and Retreat Center on Shelter Island, N.Y. where the George & Sue Klein Welcome Center was dedicated on July 3, 2010, honoring their commitment and lifelong service to family camp and the United Methodist Church.
Ordained as a Deacon in 1997, Sue continues to direct our Adult Choir and serves as our unofficial Historian due to her sharp memory and her long and faithful affiliation with the church.
Rae Steare lives in Sandy Hook with her husband Doug and 3 children, Anna, Olivia & Sam. She began volunteering in the church office early in 2021 and transitioned to a permanent role as our office assistant in May.
Rae and her family have been members of NUMC since relocating to Connecticut in 2007. Originally from North Carolina, she’s a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in English & Political Science. Raised on Southern Baptist traditions, she has fond memories of a strong community of faith and fellowship which led to active participation as a volunteer within NUMC. While her kids were young, Rae served as a coordinator of family events such as “Trick or Trunk,” community potluck dinners, youth fundraising programs and more. She also served previously as our Church School Leader and twice as a member of our Board of Trustees.
In her free time Rae enjoys reading, traveling and working jigsaw puzzles as well as spending time with both family and friends near and far.