Senior Pastor – Rev. Ray Simms
Originally from Canada, Ray has lived all over having had parents who were Salvation Army Pastors. However, he considers Newfoundland, Canada as his home. He was raised from infancy attending the Salvation Army. He credits that upbringing to his initial introduction to social justice. In early adulthood he was ordained in the Salvation Army and served two congregations in Newfoundland before moving on to his second career.
In 1992 he graduated from St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in St. John’s, NL and moved to the USA to help counteract the shortage of nurses at that time. He went on to obtain his BSN and MSN. Next year marks his 30th year in the Nursing profession. He currently works as a Nurse Manager at the VA Bay Pines Medical Center.
He initially became a member of MCC DC in 1997 when he heard an amazing gospel choir in a Pride Parade. Once he learned the choir was from MCC DC, he started attending, having never heard of MCC until then.
In 2013 he and his partner, Dennis, of 25 years moved to Florida and started to attend King of Peace. As he became more involved, he once again began to feel the call of God to ministry. He obtained a Master of Theology from St. Leo University and was eventually ordained as a minister in MCC July 17, 2021. Prior to ordination Ray served at King of Peace as a Lay Delegate, Board Member and active on the Altar Ministry, Stewardship, and Congregational Care teams. Since July of 2023 up until two weeks ago he has been the interim pastor at MCC of the Palm Beaches. He is currently enrolled at Brite Divinity School in the Doctor of Ministry Program.
Ray and Dennis reside in Safety Harbor with their Miniature Schnauzers, Schrunchion and Touton. Ray has one adult daughter, Laura, who lives in Newfoundland with her partner Terry-Lynn. His first daughter, Sarah, passed prior to her 4th birthday as a result of brain cancer.
Ray is excited to be re-igniting his call to ministry with MCC at King of Peace and to be working with such an amazing team as Rev. Lorraine Brock, Jeremiah Cummings and Melanie Vannozzi. He truly believes that God has great things instore for this wonderful congregation as they continue to seek God’s guidance in how they can share the love of Christ with those whom other churches see as not being worthy.
Associate Pastor – Director of Congregational Care – Rev. Lorraine Brock
Lorraine was born in Paterson, NJ, and was raised a Roman Catholic. She has two brothers and two sisters.
In 1969, she entered the Franciscan Sisters of Alleghany. Upon leaving the Order in 1979, she finished up her BA degree in education at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fl. Lorraine taught in the public school system for 20 years. Lorraine began attending King of Peace in the 90’s.
In 2002, she began studying for her Master of Theology and then continued on for her Master of Divinity. She was ordained in 2005 at King of Peace MCC where she served as Associate Pastor for 7 years. She was then elected Senior Pastor at MCC Charleston where she served for 3 years.
She officially retired in 2015. However, in 2021 she was given an opportunity to serve King of Peace once again as Pastor of Congregational Care. She continues to enjoy sports and plays golf as much as she can.
Clergy Intern – Rev. Kevin Konkle
Kevin Konkle was born and raised in Indiana. Until age 7, Kevin was raised Catholic when his family switched to the Pentecostal faith. Growing up in the church spurred Kevin’s desire to be a pastor like his father. He became a minister in the United Pentecostal Church for 18 years until he came out as a gay man.
Leaving his old denomination led to a spiritual journey that took him to the Metropolitan Community Churches. He has been active in MCC churches for 10 years in Indianapolis, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, and Pinellas Park. Kevin has an Associate, a Bachelor, and a Master degree, as well as, theological training from Liberty University and the UPCI. He has also worked for various LGBTQ+ organizations.
Kevin has been in a relationship with his husband, Miguel Peralta, for 11 years and has a young adult son. Kevin and Miguel are returning to live in Merida, Mexico in December of 2024. Their mission is to start a new MCC church in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, and several other cities in Southern Mexico.
Director of Music and Communications – Jeremiah Cummings
Originally from Camden, OH, Jeremiah was raised in the Pentecostal tradition, where he served in both the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) and Assembly of God. In 2004, his whole world changed when he heard about Rev. Troy Perry and the ministry of MCC.
Jeremiah is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree with concentration in Vocal Performance in the studio of Dr. Patricia P. Fleitas. As a performer, he has been blessed to sing in Ireland and London, as well as sing backup vocals for country queen Dolly Parton and gospel artists Geron Davis, Karen Wheaton and Alvin Slaughter. Through his work in music ministry, he has helped create and lead worship at MCC’s General Conference, Young Adult Network Gatherings and has served as faculty for the Moderator’s Leadership Mentoring Retreat. In 2015, he was honored with MCC’s “Bob Crocker Award for Excellence in Music Ministry”.
Jeremiah shares his passion for music with his husband, Ricardo, and he is the oldest brother of two, uncle to two nephews, and father of Minnie, a wire-haired terrier mix. His Pentecostal pastor-grandmother is his hero and was the first one to encourage his musical gifts when he started singing in church at the age of three. When he isn’t working, he enjoys going to movies, amusement parks, musical theatre, and using his crockpot to cook dinner.
Director of Administration – Melanie Vannozzi
Originally from Staten Island, NY, Melanie was raised in Richmond, VA. She is a graduate of LC Bird High School and later attended John Tyler Community College. Melanie worked for Bermuda Amoco in Chester, Va, as their Bookkeeper/Office Manager for 6 years. After the sale of Amoco and being a single mom, it was important for Melanie to work alongside her children’s school schedule, so she trained to become a School Bus Driver for Chesterfield County Public Schools, which she did for over 15 years.
In 2017, Melanie and her family relocated to St. Petersburg, FL. She was offered a bus driver position at The Princess Martha in Downtown St. Pete, and soon after was promoted to Activity/Transportation Director. In 2021, after a lot of prayer, Melanie was called to King of Peace as Church Administrator.
Melanie has dedicated her free time to non-profits, such as the Chesterfield County Food Bank, Harrowgate Elementary PTA, Calvary Baptist Awana’s Secretary, and Chester Bengals Cheerleading Coach. Melanie is mother to twins Anthony & Vanessa, Mimi to her sweet granddaughter Paisley Rose (4) and dog mom to her 6-year-old Yorkie Gucci. She loves to go thrifting, crafting, going to the beach, and spending time with her family.
Director of Technology – Tim Uber
I started coming to King of Peace MCC in March 2012 full time and after 1 year, I volunteered to step in the role of leading the Sound and Multimedia team when the previous leader moved away. God put it on my heart to learn something new and develop a new skillset. Over the course of time, I ended up finding out that my ministry at KOP was in all things technical. I have an Industrial Engineering degree and can learn to do just about anything.
In the last 11 years of leading the Tech Team, I have had the opportunity to learn the website backend and manage that as well as the Microsoft Office cloud based application for the staff, Networking also became part of the support that I do for technology as well. We have added Broadcasting and FaceBook Live Chat to the scope of my team of 19 members.
I am currently employed by FedEx in Sales for 25 years and live in Largo, FL with my two amazing dogs, Jaxon and Kenzi.
Our Board of Directors
You may email our Board of Directors at board@churchstpetersburg.org
