By Brant Mills

Rochelle Cebrun, a native Houstonian with a heart as big as her city, has been integral to the ministry of the Texas Annual Conference for the past 15 years. Cebrun has served in a couple of different roles beginning in May 2009, and currently holds the position of Managing Accountant. She holds a BBA in Finance and Management from the University of Houston.

As part of that role, her job involves managing apportionment assessments and reconciling receivables and payables for fiscal office accounts. Rochelle says she works closely with churches and fields some personnel questions, tax questions, offers information on how to handle various processes within churches, keeps forms and processes up-to-date for human resources, and manages payroll. She helps establish EIN numbers for churches and keeps them current and registered with the state of Texas.

Additionally, she often receives questions from churches about apportionments and advises how they may set up online payments at no additional cost, making the process of receiving donations for them more efficient. And if that wasn’t enough, she is also a consultant on Safe Sanctuary, offering information about background checks and training.

Outside of work, she is heavily involved in community and church activities. Rochelle serves in leadership roles for Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR), acting as the Vice Chair for the Houston caucus – which is the Texas Conference affiliated group, and also serves BMCR for the South Central Jurisdiction as their treasurer.

Active in her local United Methodist Church, she travels with youth to various conferences and camps and was recently enlisted to work with their acolytes.

She has a son and a daughter, and has been a Girl Scout troop leader for seven years. She acts as the treasurer and cookie manager for her 11th grade daughter’s troop, and serves as treasurer to their troop drill team, the Green Starlets.

Rochelle says she cherishes the family aspect of working for the Texas Conference. “It’s not too often you can find a job that adopts you as part of their family and makes you and your own family feel more connected as well. I love the understanding and willingness for them to be there for you. It’s a special place.”