UPC Staff

SENIOR PASTOR

  • Rick is the husband of Jessie, father of Madi, Becca, Andrew, and Luke, owner of two unruly dogs, one grumpy cat, and unapologetically dependent on God's grace. He is a journeyman musician, admitted Tolkien geek (books... not movies), loved Marvel before Marvel was cool, and will always be loyal to a certain football team from DC that can't decide on their name. After 5 years as an associate pastor and 13 as a church planter, God has led the Gilmartin's back to central Florida to pastor UPC. Rick has a weakness for craft beer, chips and salsa, and conversation about why Peter Jackson just doesn't get it. Combining those three would be amazing. He is also passionate about people knowing and experiencing the grace of God in Jesus and living into the freedom we were made for.

ASSOCIATE PASTOR

  • After a 30-year career in corporate Human Resources, Steve was compelled to leave that profession and start a new calling. Moving from Richmond, Virginia to attend Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando), and graduating in May 2019 with a Masters of Divinity, he was called to be the Executive Pastor of UPC. He and his wife Lee have been married for more than 30 years. They have two married daughters, all of whom live here in Orlando. My favorite part of living in Florida – The weather. My favorite local restaurant – any that serves a good steak.

DIRECTOR OF WORSHIP & ARTS

  • Stephen is originally from Kentucky and spent the past 13 years in NYC before coming to Orlando in 2019. He received a Bachelor of Music in Music Theatre at Baldwin-Wallace College in 2006, and right before graduation, Stephen was cast on Broadway in the Original Revival Cast of Les Miserables. He also performed on the Broadway National Tour of Phantom of the Opera where he met his wife, Juliette. For the past 6 years, Stephen was on staff at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC under the leadership of Dr. Tim Keller, where he served as the Youth Coordinator and the Youth Ministry Director. He and his wife created a ministry called Living Letters, which brings books of the Bible to life (www.living-letters.com). Stephen and Juliette have 3 kids and live in Winter Park. Stephen’s role at UPC includes crafting the liturgy and music for the Sunday services, helping lead the church in thinking about integrating worship throughout their whole life, growing an arts community and putting on creative events, and producing materials and performances that help bring Scripture to life in fresh new ways.

DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

  • Jessie is the wife of Rick, mother of Madi, Becca, Andrew and Luke, and the sole safe place for one particularly spoiled black lab. She graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, in 2000 with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Early Childhood Education. She married Rick that same year and began her teaching career in Harrisonburg teaching in a Head Start program with three- and four-year-olds. The following year, they relocated to Oviedo for Rick to attend Reformed Theological Seminary. During this time, Jessie worked for three years as a kindergarten teacher at Eastbrook Elementary School in Winter Park. They then returned to the Shenandoah Valley in 2005 when Rick accepted a call to a church in Waynesboro, VA, as a worship and discipleship director before planting a new church in Staunton, VA, in 2009. After 14 years of caring for kids at home, she returned to teaching in first grade and second grade.

    She enjoys walking/running to various playlists she has created and going to the beach to relax. Jessie also loves taking pictures and creating albums and family scrapbooks when she has the time. She loves to read, watch movies with her family, travel to new places, and meet friends for coffee.

DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MINISTRY

  • Jonathan and his wife, Ashley, spent 14 years as missionaries in Bosnia before coming to UPC in July of 2022. There, they worked with University and high school students in two cities and served local churches throughout the region. Jonathan loves working with young people, sharing the gospel, and organizing large events, and is currently pursuing an MDiv at RTS in Oviedo. His family’s favorite local restaurant is Tijuana Flats, where they can be found at least once a week — most likely the location at Goldenrod and University Blvd!

DIRECTOR OF SENIOR MINISTRY

  • Jim was born in 1955 and raised in the small town of Grove City, PA. He attended his home town college and had the life changing blessing of meeting a beautiful, young, intelligent, Italian student named Linda on the first day of freshman orientation. They dated all through college and were married the week after graduation. Friends know that Jim definitely married up! Feeling called to Ordained ministry during college he attended seminary in Louisville and was ordained in his hometown church in 1980. He has served several churches along the way, in Ky., PA and FL. In the later years of ministry, he served as Chaplin, developing the Pastoral Care program at Westminster Winter Park, a Continuing Care Retirement Community. Jim and Linda retired and love spending timewith the families of their three children which includes, 6 grandchildren. They enjoy traveling, and the outdoors. In his spare time Jim is involved with the Palm Valley singers, the Plam Valley Photography Club, and the Palm Valley Travel Club. When he can, loves to get some fishing in, be it freshwater or saltwater. He looks forward to developing the next stages of Senior Ministry at UPC through the Joy Group and other program ideas. He also has a love affair with Puns, or as they are more recently known, “Dad Jokes”. In some of his churches that had signage in front of the building, he loved to put out phrases like, “Come in for a Faith Lift!” or on a hot summer day “Come Join us! We’re Prayer Conditioned!”

PASTORAL RESIDENT

  • Dam (pronounced “Dahm”) is married to his bride Jamie, and they have three children: a son, Paxton, and two daughters, Palmer and Daley. Dam served on Young Life staff for nearly a decade, then worked a short stint as a College and Career Navigator at a Virginia community college, and most recently as a pastor of spiritual formation in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Originally from an hour west of Philadelphia, he enjoys all things Philly sports and also enjoys experiencing the arts in person (musicals, plays, concerts, museums) with his wife and kids. He is finishing a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree at Reformed Theological Seminary here in Orlando and is excited to serve as a Pastoral Resident, mainly caring for college students and young adults.

BUSINESS MANAGER

  • Tanya was born in Kentucky and attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington where she met her husband, Fred. They fell in love while playing guitar together in the university jazz band. They now have grown twin daughters.

    After moving to Orlando in 1991, Tanya became the full-time director of the Adult Literacy League, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching adults to read, and was then a staff accountant with Rodney Eddins, CPA, for 5 years before joining the UPC staff in 2000. Tanya and her family started attending UPC in 1996 where she and Fred played in the praise band for many years, and then moved out with UPC's church plant, Christ Kingdom, in 2005.

EVENTS & FACILITY COORDINATOR

  • Lisa was born and raised deep in the heart of Texas. After college at West Texas A&M University, she worked in Marketing & Management for a real estate developer in Uptown Dallas and Austin for 14 years before moving to Orlando in December 2001. Lisa has been a member of UPC since 2002 and has served in many different ministry roles over the years. Lisa loves spending time with her son Travis, cooking, going to water parks, going for walks and hanging out with friends.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

  • Megan is a born and raised Floridian. She graduated from UCF (Go, Knights!) with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Megan has been on staff since 2011 and finds much joy in being able to serve both her church family and local community. She and her husband David have two children: Emma and Harrison.

GROUNDSKEEPER

  • TBD