Pastor Tia Felberg, center, receives a congratulations hug from Rev. Rebecca Trefz. Photos by jlynn studios.

“Some people in the community have not felt welcomed in any church or with Christians, and yet they have started coming to worship because of the atmosphere Pastor Tia Felberg has helped us create. People feel safe coming to Pastor Tia when their marriages are falling apart, their lives don’t look perfect, or they have felt judged by others.”

That is how one of the DeSmet and Iroquois congregations' members describes Pastor Tia Felberg, the Dakotas Conference 2023 Denman Award winner for clergy.

The Harry Denman Evangelism Award program honors United Methodists in each annual conference whose exceptional ministry of evangelism – expressed in Word, Sign, and Deed – brings people into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Mark 12:29-31 gives us the commandment that Jesus thought was the most important. It’s a foundation of being faithful and good. Easy to understand but challenging to attempt. Pastor Tia takes on that challenge with gusto as the pastor of the DeSmet and Iroquois United Methodist Churches in South Dakota.

Tia has an open door and an open heart. She welcomes the other recklessly. She inspires and empowers others to see people in the community who need love and welcoming. Pastor Tia encourages others to act on God’s nudges and to respond by reaching out or starting new ministries. One specific way this is seen is in how she walks with members of her congregation and cheers them on to reach the kids in the community, many of whom don’t have families that attend church.

One church member wrote, “Tia has challenged me to see everyone as a loving and acceptable child of God. She lives this out in what she says and how she treats everyone she meets. She invites everyone on Facebook Live to worship, whether in the churches she serves or wherever they may be. Tia acknowledges that not everyone feels welcome or comfortable in a church building and offers to meet with them for coffee or wherever they are.”  

Rev. Tia Felberg.

Pastor Tia’s presence in the community, her work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, her approachable presence, and her sincere love for “the other” are the tangible presence of Christ that many people have not experienced in their lives. She meets people where they are because Jesus met people where they were. She doesn’t expect them to follow a neat, quick, programmed path of transformation. She trusts the power of the Holy Spirit to work. 

Pastor Tia lives out the gospel daily but admits her faults, insecurities, and questions. She speaks so clearly of her love for Jesus, her struggles, and how we need Jesus in every aspect of our lives to carry on in this life. Tia makes room for everyone—making the table bigger—because Jesus made room for everyone. She loves people without an agenda because Jesus loved them, whether they chose to change or follow him.

Pastor Tia welcomes people into the church and her heart and life, no matter their personalities or circumstances, and she encourages us to do the same.

We congratulate the 2023 Harry Denman Evangelism Award to Pastor Tia Felberg for all these reasons and more.