John Schneider
Pastor
Hello! My name is John Schneider, and I’m the new pastor at St. Paul UMC. I am excited to begin my second appointment here in Bloomington.
I graduated from the University of Evansville with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 2011 and have not lost my all-around love for history, particularly medieval history. This was nurtured as a child through my love of reading the legends of King Arthur, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter. I graduated with an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary in the fall of 2020.
I met my wife, Hannah Hopkinson, while in seminary, and we were married on April 26, 2025. While in seminary, I matured in my love of cultivating spiritual formation through face-to-face visits.
In my spare time, I love reading, playing video games, and spending time outdoors. I have a particular love for computer games and enjoy turn-based strategy games and role-playing games (RPGs). My wife and I love hiking and kayaking. We also enjoy board games and tabletop RPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons.
Hannah enjoys dungeon-mastering (DM-ing) our sessions, along with creative writing and adding to her Substack blog, Scripture Over Tea. We also enjoy the occasional football or baseball game and are becoming IU fans.
We do not yet have any kids, but we do have one cat named Azura. I have felt blessed to continue to get to know the wonderful folks here in Bloomington as we continue the good ministry God has already begun here at St. Paul’s UMC!
Shari Miller
Administrative Assistant
Shari Miller is originally from north-central Ohio and has called the Bloomington area home twice, with a 20-year gap between her stays. In 2024, she married Don Miller of Indiana, and together they cherish their two cats, Butters and Kai. Her deep passion for serving the Lord led her to become a voluntary disaster relief chaplain.
In her free time, Shari enjoys spending quality moments with her family
and close friends, whether it’s simply relaxing or embarking on new
adventures.
Ryo Kaneko
Pianist
Winner of the 2014 Miami Music Festival Piano Competition and the 2015 Jacob Flier International Piano Competition, Japanese pianist Ryo Kaneko is a rising star in the next generation of pianists. He has performed with conductors such as Vladimir Feltsman, Michael Rossi, Victoria Gau, and Bohuslav Rattay and has presented recitals on many prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center, New World Theater, Rosa Hart Theater, McKenna Theater, Manhattan’s Steinway Hall, and the Studley Theatre. His performance has been consistently praised for his unrivaled, visceral energy. Times Herald-Record’s Mr. James F. Cotter vividly describes Mr. Kaneko’s performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s first piano concerto: “The final allegro takes the form of a scherzo, which Kaneko brought to a rousing climax that brought the audience to its feet with shouts of ‘Bravo.’”
Mr. Kaneko received his undergraduate and Master’s degree at Rice University, where he studied with the internationally acclaimed artist Dr. Robert Roux. Currently, he is earning his Doctor of Music in Indiana University under the guidance of Professor Emile Naoumoff.
