staff

  • In-Sook Hwang

    Pastor

    In-Sook is honored and excited to serve as the pastor of Grace church.  She is passionate to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to encourage people to discover God’s purposes for their lives.  In-Sook and her husband, Bong-Choul who is also a clergy, have been blessed by their two daughters and four grandchildren. She would love to meet you soon!

  • Michael Arthur

    Contemporary Worship Leader

    Mike is a Southern Illinois native.  He is a proud father, lucky fiance, dedicated teacher, and passionate lover of all things music (Warning: he is a classically trained pianist with a love for reggae and punk rock, so naturally he is a bit "energetic").  He invites you to join him and his family to worship on Sunday mornings at our 9 a.m. Contemporary Service!

  • Jaci Arthur

    Youth Ministries Leader

    Jaci grew up outside of Houston, Texas but has lived in Carbondale for almost 12 years. She's a four-time Saluki alumna, with a Masters in Education and a Juris Doctor degree. In addition to all things stage and music, she loves traveling, writing, reading, dancing, learning and experiencing new things and languages, games of all kinds, watching movies and TV shows (especially Sci-Fi and British dramas).

  • Andrew Hudson

    Choir Director

    Andrew Hudson is a California native and aspiring conductor, currently enrolled in the Master of Music program at SIU, with a concentration in Choral Conducting. Before coming to Illinois, he worked for two years as music director at the First United Methodist Church in Loomis, California, after graduating from University of California, Davis in 2013 with a BA in Music Composition. Andrew is primarily a singer, but you may also see him playing viola on occasion.


  • Alessandra Odazaki

    pianist/accomponist

    Alessandra Odazaki was born in São Paulo, Brazil. She recieved her
    diploma from São Paulo Conservatory of Music with a bachelor's degree
    in piano performance from São Paulo State University.
    She is currently persuing her Master's degree in Piano Performance at
    Southern Illinois University under the direction of Dr. Junghwa Lee.
    Alessandra has been an active participant in master-classes with
    several renowed pianists such as Olga Kiun (Russia-Brazil), Ronan
    O'Hara (England), Piotr Banasik (Poland), Caio Pagano (Brazil-USA),
    Flavio Varani (Brazil-USA), Maciej Pikulski (

  • Debrah Ditch

    Office Manager

    Debbie feels privileged to have served Grace UMC as office manager since 2002.  Debbie and her husband Rick live in “Fudgetown” and are active members at the Johnston City United Methodist Church.  They enjoy raised-bed vegetable gardening, cooking, and getting together with their two sons and their families to play board games.