Rev. Dr. Amy Valdez-Barker

The Rev. Dr. Amy Valdez Barker brings to Mountain Park UMC two decades of experience in religious education and church mission. As the former Executive Director of Global Mission Connections at The General Board of Global Ministries she was responsible for leading five regional offices and two global offices in leadership development and scholarships, as well as overseeing the placements and supervision of 200+ missionaries. Prior to that, Valdez Barker served as the Chief Connectional Ministries Officer for the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church, responsible for coordinating the mission, ministries, and programs of The United Methodist Church.

In addition to her executive leadership roles, she has been a practitioner in the area of youth ministry education, strategic visioning, and leadership development through church and conference positions. She has taught courses at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Drew Theological School and through BeADisciple, an online learning community.

She has many academic and writing interests which she carries out through teaching at Candler School of Theology and writing regularly for Sparkhouse and 1517 Media. She is passionate about the Lilburn/Gwinnett County community and has gotten involved in bringing the community hope in the form of ART from the HEART through Citizen Exchange, an Old Town business in Lilburn. 

She has two children, Ashtin who is a student at UGA and Tre who is a student at Parkview High School.  She is happily married to Richard Barker who is an IT Specialist at Bethesda Elementary School. They live in the Nantucket Neighborhood in Lilburn.