Laura Fine Ledford
Lead Pastor
Pastor Laura is originally from Asheboro, NC, but as the daughter of an Energizer Battery father, lived in Vermont and Singapore before starting undergrad at UNC Chapel Hill. She majored in Performance Studies and Creative Writing (her parents thought she was going to live in their basement forever), and graduated to a job selling makeup at Belk. At the time, Laura was a member at Christ UMC in Chapel Hill, and joined their rotation of Communion servers. Saying “the body of Christ, given for you,” woke something up in her, and Laura started the Master of Divinity program at Duke in 2005. Since graduating, Laura has served at All Saints’ UMC, Hayes Barton UMC, Apex UMC, and with the NC Conference of the UMC.
She is married to Rodney, and they have two teenage sons, Edwin and Hank. She adores her dog, Annie, even when she’s eating out of trash cans, which is far too frequently.
In her free time, Laura enjoys reading, walking with Annie, and listening to podcasts (The Popcast, What Now with Trevor Noah, and Hidden Brain are some of her favorites). She is also known to attend the sporting events of her children, calling out suggestions that are neither needed nor accurate to the game.
The late Rachel Held Evans once wrote “I am a Christian because the story of Jesus is still the story I’m willing to risk being wrong about.” These are words that anchor Laura’s faith, and her ministry. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus never stops being the most compelling story she knows, and the story that, even on the hardest days, is the one through which she wants to live her life.