Rev. Stan Abell

E-mail: abells@stlukesumc.com

For ten years, Stan was a high school history teacher before deciding to dedicate his life to ministry work. He has been associated as a volunteer and then subsequently on staff at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church since 2001.

Stan’s primary involvement at St. Luke’s has been as the pastor of St. Luke’s non-traditional worship, The Garden at Oak Hill, where he has helped build a congregation of over 200 people. At St. Luke’s, he is part of the Lead Team and is co-chair of the AIDS Task Force. He is also Executive Director of The Power of One, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that has raised over $250,000 for AIDS research and the Neema Orphanage for children infected with HIV/AIDS in Eldoret, Kenya.

In 2004 through the Power of One and in conjunction with the Indiana School of Medicine’s IU/Kenya Partnership, Stan led an 11-member film crew to Kenya to produce the documentary "Into the Heart of Hope," which won a regional Emmy award in 2005.

Most recently, Stan has led a task force to create The Garden and St. Luke’s new virtual faith community, The Bluevine Collective. The Bluevine Collective is a diverse community seeking to engage in significant life and faith questions in order to foster transformative action

Stan is a native of Kentucky and the world’s biggest U2 fan. He and his wife Jenny have two children.