Rev. Sylvia Harris
Senior Pastor
Pastor Sylvia was born and raised in Western Maryland in a family with a long history with the Evangelical United Brethren branch of The United Methodist Church. At 12, she was baptized by her grandfather in the creek on her uncle’s farm and joined Benevola United Methodist Church. When she was a teenager, she resisted God’s call to ministry. Instead, she became a licensed mental health therapist, working with people struggling with substance abuse, depression, anxiety, bipolar, various personality disorders, and other mental health challenges. When she and her husband welcomed the first of three children, they soon made the decision for her to remain at home with their children while they were young.
If you want to schedule a meeting with Pastor Sylvia, check out her calendar scheduling page here.
Pastor Sylvia and her family moved to the valley in 2014. This is where she eventually answered her call to ministry, joining the staff of another United Methodist Church for over four years Pastor Sylvia was appointed on December 1, 2020 as part-time interim pastor to Wesley United Methodist Church in Phoenix. During her years of ministry there, she was reappointed several times, eventually serving there full-time while working on intentional revitalization and creative ministry engagement. On July 1, 2023, Pastor Sylvia started ministry as the Senior Pastor of Song of Life United Methodist Church.
Pastor Sylvia has her Master of Divinity with a specialization in Women, Society, and Church from Saint Paul School of Theology. She serves Song of Life in connection with the Desert Southwest Annual Conference as a Provisional Elder. Pastor Sylvia has served for several years on the DSC Commission on Race and Religion and became the chair of the Commission on July 1, 2023. She has been part of the Annual Conference’s work toward being an antiracist Annual Conference and is one of their a Diversity and Equity trainers. In addition, she has received awards related to ministry leadership and academic abilities, biblical studies, and social ethics and justice.
