Senior Pastor, Rev. Chris Owens

Rev. Chris Owens is the Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Laurel, Maryland. Pastor Chris was born in Washington D.C., and raised in Maryland. After finishing seminary at Wesley Theological Seminary, he was appointed as associate pastor at Hollywood UMC in Hollywood, MD. After three years, he was then appointed to Bethel UMC in Upper Marlboro, MD as lead pastor. He came to First UMC in July 2007.

Pastor Chris has been married to Blairlee since June 29, 2007. Blairlee is a nationally certified counselor and Director of Crisis Intervention with the YWCA of Anne Arundel County. Pastor Chris and Blairlee each have a young daughter, Grace and Kathryn respectively, and are joyfully living into being a blended family.

Pastor Chris has several hobbies. He exercises, reads, does handcrafts (like counted cross-stitch and origami), plays and writes music, learns new and exotic musical instruments, roasts and brews great coffee, plays on the computer (blogging and Web design), and enjoys outdoor adventures. He loves to travel and explore new places and cultures, and he deeply enjoys ethnic foods, art, and music.