Senior Pastor

Nick Works

Raised in a devout Christian home, Pastor Nick dedicated his life to Christ at age twelve. At sixteen, he felt God calling him to vocational ministry. Nick attended a small Baptist college in Arkansas and majored in Christian Ministry. During that time, Pastor Nick was ordained to the ministry while serving at Newark Baptist Church in Newark, Arkansas. Following college, he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and served on staff at a local Baptist church. Later in life, Pastor Nick attended Wesley Theological Seminary where I earned both the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Ministry degrees. 

Geographically, Pastor Nick’s ministry has spanned several states as the Works family moved to continue their education. The family moved to Maryland when Carla, Pastor Nick’s wife was offered a job as a professor in Washington DC. When Carla began working in Washington DC, Nick found a home for ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary and has continued to pilgrimage there. Pastor Nick has been blessed to work and study at Wesley since 2009. 

Along the way, God has provided places for Pastor Nick to serve in ministry. Nick has a passion for preaching. The goal of his preaching is to allow the risen Christ to walk among the people of God. There is a power at work in the stories of the biblical text. These stories bring power to our lives, and as a preacher, it is his hope that these ancient stories can shed light on our lives and illuminate our paths today. Our pilgrimage in faith is also strengthened as a congregation through a lively worship life. That is the value that is brought to our lives through regular worship. It is always Pastor Nick’s hope to craft lively and meaningful worship services which impact congregants’ daily lives. The hope is that when you sing a hymn or read a prayer or hear a good sermon on Sunday morning, that shapes who you are on Thursday morning.



Carla, Pastor Nick’s wife, and he has been happily married for twenty-five years. Their son, Jonathan is 21 years old and is in US Army Reserves. He is also a student at American University in Washington DC. Their daughter Kate is 12 years old. She is a sixth grader at Rocky Hill Middle School in Germantown MD. The Works family has a silly dog, named Amos in honor of their favorite Old Testament Prophet. When Pastor Nick is not working at Wesley Seminary or serving as a pastor of a congregation, he is almost always with one or more of these wonderful family members. Nick and his family love to travel and enjoy learning something new every day. They enjoy hiking at Sugarloaf Mountain or Gambrill State Park, or even in the woods behind their family home in Gaithersburg. Since Pastor Nick was born and raised in Arkansas, He will forever cheer on the Arkansas Razorbacks in football, basketball, baseball, or any sport where the world’s greatest pig competes.

Introducing

Abby Butler-Cefalo

Abby has lived all over the country; from being born in the midwest to having formational life experiences on both the east and west coast, she now calls Washington, DC home. While not being raised in a particularly religious household, Abby can remember her first call to ministry being in elementary school after meeting nuns at career day and wanting to be "just like them!" As she entered her early teenage years, she asked her parents to take her to church, much to their surprise. Here is where she found her second call to ministry: this tiny church at the beach with mostly retired folks.

Abby went to college in Fairfax, VA with the intention of going into government, but after one government class she swiftly realized that was not her calling and she dropped the major. She was deeply involved in her church community in college, where she served on the board, led small groups, and routinely preached for the group. Once she graduated, she decided it was time to stop ignoring her call to ministry and began working for a small, rural church in Harrisonburg, VA. There, she ran the campus ministry arm of the church and was foundational in forming intergenerational relationships between the congregants and college-aged students. After three years in the mountains, Abby has found herself in Washington, DC working towards her Masters of Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Outside of ministry, Abby also works as a caretaker for a child with special needs. She has a heart for this community, and has been working with children with special needs for five years. Abby is engaged to her high school sweetheart, James. They have two cats together, Nutmeg and Saffron, and love the life they are building together. You can find the two of them hiking, playing tennis, watching movies, or experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen!