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In this month's spotlight, we sit down with our Director of Finance to learn about his journey, his passion for Asbury First's mission, and his penchant for serendipity.
Every morning, John Ormsbee walks into his office driven by something deeper than spreadsheets and budgets. In cahoots with his team of seven volunteer finance angels—Keane Dziduch, Rick Shevlin, Dave Kennedy, Barb Eltinge, Ellen Williams, Cristy Peck, and Patrick Fulford—the Finance Office quietly processes over 10,000 individual contributions each year alongside about 2,500 payments. They handle investment recording, reconcile statements, and manage fund transfers, saving Asbury First tens of thousands of dollars annually through their generous service.
He's honored to work alongside the staff and volunteers at 1050 East Ave, loves crunching complex numbers and setting up the church for success in the future, but what fuels John Ormsbee's passion for managing finances in our faith community is refreshingly straightforward: he loves the mission of Asbury First.
The path that led John to us was a meandering one. His career wound through retail banking, then financial planning, before he returned to school for his MBA and CPA designation. From there, he moved into business valuation and eventually shifted into non-profit accounting. Rather than following a carefully crafted plan, his journey was quite the opposite: a series of opportunities that ultimately brought him exactly where he belongs. Now thrilled to be at Asbury First, he hopes to remain for many more years to come.
If you've met John, you know he has collected a lot of great stories along his way. As someone who often shares the lunch table with him at 1050, I can attest that John's presence at the table is always accompanied by conversation and laughter – a trait that often ensures that our workdays are sprinkled with the right amount of joy. Perhaps no story better captures his character than the tale of how he met the love of his life, Lis Bischoff-Ormsbee. John tells it best:
"One day during my senior year in college I was enjoying a honey bun in the snack bar when a girl I had a crush on walked in. I tried to impress her by bragging that I loved honey buns so much that I could eat six of them. She smiled politely and left, leaving me with a few last bites of pastry to mend a broken heart and shattered dreams of love. But to my astonishment she reappeared with a bag of five more honey buns and dared me to eat them. Well, I ate ‘em up, and married that girl! Not many people can say the same, but the best decision I ever made, by far, was to eat six honey buns on a dare."
Today, his life finds rhythm in the variety of his interests. Finance, music, cooking, and family each provide their own kind of diversity and diversion, a welcome change of pace that keeps life engaging.
Music holds a special place in his current chapter. Lately, he's been investing considerable time coordinating rehearsals and managing the library for the Melody Masters Big Band. The joy, he explains, comes not just from the music itself, but from performing alongside his wife Lis and bringing the Great American Songbook to Rochester audiences. Beyond his role as trombonist, he's taken on the behind-the-scenes work of handling logistics for rehearsals and gigs, ensuring everything runs smoothly so the music can take center stage.
John is a man of many talents, but perhaps his most important trait is a willingness to pivot, reassess, and try something new — maybe the most meaningful paths in life are discovered not by following a map, but by having the courage to say yes when opportunity knocks, even especially if it comes disguised as six honey buns.
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