About: Pastor Mandy Barkhaus

Pastor Mandy Barkhaus is excited and humbled about the chance to serve with the Horizons community beginning on July 1, 2022. Before serving in a church, Pastor Mandy worked for a non-profit, allowing her to use her BA in Human and Social Services Administration. She knew that helping people, especially young people, was her life calling. Although she loved her job, God called her to move from the secular non-profit world into the church world. Pastor Mandy held various roles in church ministry over the last 15 years. She served as the hospitality director, then the youth director, and then as the Executive Pastor for the past seven years. She completed the United Methodist Course of Study in 2020, received her Masters from Saint Paul School of Theology this May, and was commissioned as a provisional elder in June.  

Mandy has spent her ministry in all the ways found in The Parable of the Sower of Seed (Matthew 13:1-9.) She has sowed seeds, knowing that sometimes it falls on rocky places and thorns and sometimes on good soil but always trusting God. She also admits that she has been rocky soil and thorns in her imperfect, spiritual journey. Yet she always strives to learn and develop to be good soil to help her grow her relationship with Jesus and others. In other words, she realizes that ministry is challenging and a never-ending journey but remains faithful to her calling.  

Pastor Mandy loved serving at St. Andrew's UMC in Omaha but continues to be open to where God calls her. She is supported by her husband, Tom, and sons, Jax (21) and Lex (18). Occasionally, you may see their sons, but Mandy and Tom are newly empty nesters. Their son Jax lives and works in Kansas City, and their son Lex will be staying in Omaha to study graphic design. Besides ministry, Tom and Mandy enjoy hiking, biking, going on adventures, working out, and playing board games. They are thrilled to become a part of the Horizons community.