Rev. Dr. Sunny Ahn
Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. Sunny Ahn was born in Incheon, Korea, and moved to the United States at 15. Since then, she grew up in Southern California (Northridge, CA), which made her a “Valley Girl.” After marrying her husband, Sung Ahn, she lived in Chicago, Northern California, and Hawaii before returning to Southern California. She and Sung now make their home in Rialto.
Rev. Dr. Ahn brings both rich pastoral experience and strong academic training to her ministry. She has served for over 25 years as a United Methodist ordained pastor, in both small and large
churches in rural and suburban various cultural settings. She was ordained as a Deacon in 2000 and as an Elder in 2002.
She is passionate about helping churches grow in faith, service, and leadership. Her academic journey reflects that calling:
In addition to serving the local church, Rev. Dr. Ahn teaches Organizational Leadership in Business Administration as an adjunct professor at Oral Roberts University.
Outside of ministry and teaching, she loves traveling, music, art, and sports. She and Sung are off exploring the beauty of God’s creation whenever they can.
She is honored to serve at New Beginnings United Methodist Church, helping our congregation grow in faith, love, and service to our community.
Rev. Dr. Ahn brings both rich pastoral experience and strong academic training to her ministry. She has served for over 25 years as a United Methodist ordained pastor, in both small and large
churches in rural and suburban various cultural settings. She was ordained as a Deacon in 2000 and as an Elder in 2002.
She is passionate about helping churches grow in faith, service, and leadership. Her academic journey reflects that calling:
- She holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Organizational Leadership) from National University. Her dissertation focused on Adaptive Leadership in Times of Crisis, exploring how pastors lead local churches through challenges.
- She also has a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Leadership (MBA) from Capella University.
- In ministry, she earned a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership with a full scholarship as a Beeson Scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary,
writing on Clergywomen with Spiritual Authority. - She also holds a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
In addition to serving the local church, Rev. Dr. Ahn teaches Organizational Leadership in Business Administration as an adjunct professor at Oral Roberts University.
Outside of ministry and teaching, she loves traveling, music, art, and sports. She and Sung are off exploring the beauty of God’s creation whenever they can.
She is honored to serve at New Beginnings United Methodist Church, helping our congregation grow in faith, love, and service to our community.
Rafael Deras
Associate Pastor
Pastor Rafael has a history of being a church planter and facilitator in Hispanic theological schools. Pastor Rafael has lived in Southern California for the past 42 years and has pastored multicultural Hispanic communities in Southern California. He has also served in interfaith organizations helping to train leaders for ministry. He graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity.
Pastor Rafael has been with Nuevos Comienzos since its founding in 2018. In addition to leading our Spanish ministries in all of our fields, he currently preaches in our West Campus on Sundays and also leads weekly worship services at our food and clothing distributions in our West Campus and Downtown Campus every Thursday.
Pastor Rafael has been with Nuevos Comienzos since its founding in 2018. In addition to leading our Spanish ministries in all of our fields, he currently preaches in our West Campus on Sundays and also leads weekly worship services at our food and clothing distributions in our West Campus and Downtown Campus every Thursday.
Josie Carino
Preschool Director
Josie was a Preschool Director in Fontana for 18 years, before coming to help New Beginnings re-launch our preschool after the pandemic and officially launching in November of 2022. Josie is a mom to 4 boys (now all out of the house). She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Education, Major in ECE from Philippine Christian University. She more recently gained her Early Childhood Administrative and Leadership certificate through CSUSB. She loves her job and hopes to meet your children as they bring so much joy to her heart!
Gail Apt
Administrative Assistant
Gail has been with New Beginnings UMC since we started in July 2018 as an administrative assistant. Gail makes everything work at the church. Some of her responsibilities include maintaining general facility and program usage schedules, maintaining attendance and membership records, and generally making sure everyone knows what they need to know and is where they need to be. Gail answers our church phone Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and is the person who has the answers to all your questions. She hopes to be able to talk to you soon.