Valley Ridge District Superintendent
Rev. J. Douglas Forrester
Rev. J. Douglas Forrester is a Richmond, Virginia, native and a graduate of Emory & Henry College and Duke University Divinity School. He has served in various pastoral appointments, including Warwick Memorial UMC in Newport News, Prince George Charge near Petersburg, Crozet UMC on the Charlottesville District, and most recently at Reveille UMC in Richmond. He has served on the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and is a past member of the faculty of the Conference Licensing School. He was appointed by Bishop Lewis to serve as Roanoke District Superintendent beginning in July 2020 and in July 2021 he began serving in the capacity of both Roanoke and Staunton District Superintendent. In 2022, the Roanoke and Staunton Districts came together to form the Valley Ridge District.
Doug is married to Tracy Forrester, an elementary school teacher in the Roanoke County Schools. Together they have two daughters, Ellen and Claire.
Doug works out of both the Valley Ridge District offices in Fishersville and Roanoke and can be reached at [email protected]
Donna Desper, Administrative Assistant
Donna was raised in Staunton and attended Mt. Pisgah EUB/UMC. She attended James Madison University and graduated from Elizabeth Brant's School of Business as a Legal Secretary. She was the church secretary for Marquis Memorial UMC, and from there, she became the Staunton District Administrative Assistant in 1980. She is blessed to work with the people and see God's love in those she works with and for. Donna attends St. Mark's UMC and has a son, Samuel, a registered nurse at Augusta Health.
Donna works from the Valley Ridge Office in Fishersville and can be reached at: [email protected].
Rev. Dr. Dale White, Director of Congregational Excellence
The Rev. Dr. Dale C. White is a native of Wichita, Kansas. He is a graduate of the State University of New York, and earned his M.Div. at Drew University (Madison, NJ) and his D.Min. at Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington DC). He is a member of the New York Annual Conference, where he was ordained Elder in 1987 and served two churches before being endorsed to serve as a Navy Chaplain (1992-2021). He retired as a Navy Captain and senior United Methodist Navy Chaplain in 2021. He was loaned by Bishop Thomas Bickerton (President of the Council of Bishops and New York Episcopal Area) to the Virginia Conference in 2021, where he was appointed to serve as Director of Congregational Excellence for the Staunton District. He now serves in this role throughout the Valley Ridged District. He resides in Churchville, VA, with his wife Linda and daughter Shannon. They also have a son, Michael, who resides in Reno, Nevada.
Dale works primarily from the Valley Ridge District Fishersville Office and occasionally from the Roanoke Office. You can reach him by email at: [email protected].
Rev. Robin Barge, Director of Communications and Programming
Rev. Robin L. Barge was baptized and confirmed in Clemmons United Methodist Church in Clemmons, North Carolina. She completed her undergraduate studies at United Methodist-affiliated Greensboro College. She received her Master of Divinity degree and was a Lilly Fellow at Duke University Divinity School. Robin was ordained as an Elder in the Western North Carolina Conference, where she served seven churches before moving into the Virginia Conference. She has completed the Reynolds Program in Church Leadership and SLI Leadership Training. Robin was the Director of Age Level Ministries at Blacksburg UMC in Blacksburg before her appointment in the Valley Ridge District. She has served as the Pastor of St. Paul UMC in Roanoke since 2022, and beginning in January 1, 2024 will also serve as the Director of Communications and Programming for the Valley Ridge District. Robin is married to Alex, and together, they have a blended family, including their four children and dog, Oatmeal.
Robin works out of the Valley Ridge office in Roanoke and can be reached at [email protected].
Rev. Dr. Bright Lee, Evangelism Consultant
A native of South Korea, Dr. Lee has served the church in a variety of exciting ways. From 1991 to 2000, he served as a lay missionary to India. Then, from 2005 to 2018, he served as a clergy missionary to India, serving as the Training Director of Indian Church Planting Movement Training Institute in India. He has degrees from Korean University (BA, Education), Jawaharlal Nehru University (MA, Sociology), Chongshin Theological Seminary (MDiv), Jawaharlal Nehru University (PhD in Cultural Anthropology), and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin in Missiology). Prior to his appointment to the district, he served as the pastor of the four church McDowell Charge in Highland County where in his first six months, he organized a dozen baptisms.
Bright specializes in connecting churches to their communities, and he available to your church or churches. To schedule a consultation with him, please send him an email at [email protected].