Renee Blanchard

After a dozen years in higher education, Renee is thrilled to return to the local church as Arapaho UMC's Director of Children's Ministries.

Renee was born and raised in the Dallas area. She earned a Master in Social Work at Baylor University, Master in Divinity at Drew Theological School, and completed a PhD in Child Development & Early Education at Texas Woman's University. Her dissertation research explored the impact that religious identity has on imagination in young children. During Renee's four-year residency in Brazil, she worked toward a postdoc by exploring the girl-child in sacred texts and classical literature from around the world.

As a minister and social work administrator, Renee has served children and their families by nurturing children’s holistic development and supporting families’ health and wellbeing. She is passionate about journeying alongside those who are healing from trauma and nurturing families to encourage their children’s faith formation through rituals and storytelling.

Renee has completed research and taught in rural Haiti, Israel’s West Bank, Brazilian favelas, and multicultural communities across the United States.

Renee celebrates Sabbath with lectio divina readings from the Gospel of Luke and the prophetic books in Hebrew scripture. She feels closest to God when she is hiking in Summit County Colorado or swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the shores of Rio de Janeiro.