Maria Meredith has been called to be an advocate for our womenand youth. She is the Women's Ministries Leader for the Southwest RegionConference at Voice of Hope SDA Church in Oklahoma City, OK. She is also theWestern VP of Oklahoma Youth Federation and the founder and CEO of thenon-profit Set Free Ministry. Set Fee Ministry was created to empower andencourage our youth and young adults to use their gift of dance to build theirrelationship with Christ and to draw others to him. We have been in existencefor 3 years impacting youth and young adults in Oklahoma, Texas, Indiana andPennsylvania. We are looking forward to being a part of the Allegheny WestWomen’s Ministries retreat experience! Maria holds a Bachelors of Sciencedegree in Business Administration from Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. For alarge portion of Maria’s professional career she worked in wealth management asa Trust officer. During this time, Maria provided financial and estate planningadvice to families in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Her career path providedopportunities to work for several prestigious financial institutions such asNational City Bank and KeyBank. While living in Cleveland, Ohio, Maria was amember of the Southeast SDA Church in Allegheny West Conference. During hertime at Southeast, she served as Greeter, Deaconess, Family Life Co-Leader andWomen's Ministry Leader. This is where she fell in love with dance ministry andGod open up the opportunity for her to learn, grow and where she was lead togive back and mentor our youth in their desire to worship and use their dancegift for the Kingdom. During this time, Maria started a mentoring programcalled Steps2christ which minister in local churches and nursing homes allacross Cleveland, Ohio. During her leadership as Women's Ministry Leader atSoutheast SDA Church she founded "Bloom" which was an acronym for"Believing Ladies Offering Opportunities in Ministry". The ministrywas created to provide mentorship for young ladies in our church and communityand also offering scholarships to help them with their educational goals. Thisprogram is still active and thriving in the Allegheny West conference. For ashort period of time Maria lived in Birmingham, Alabama where she became apublished author of a children's book entitled “Perfectly Mixed”. The book waswritten to empower our youth to combat bullying and encourage them to embracetheir differences no matter the color of their skin, the texture of their hairor their nationality. We are God’s creation and are beautifully and wonderfullymade. The politics of corporate America caused Maria to want a change hercareer path and she prayed the prayer, Open door doors no man can shut and shutdoors that no man can open”, and shortly after praying that pray God moved she andher family to Oklahoma. But to her surprise God provided an opportunity atanother financial institution where she remained in wealth management as aTrust officer at Arvest Bank. God eventually opened a door for her to work forthe state of Oklahoma where she worked as auditors for the Oklahoma TaxCommission. Maria is also a wife and mother of three adult young men whocurrently reside in Columbus, Ohio. One of the greatest joys in life isspending time with her family and loving on her children and grandchildren. Herpassions include ministering in song and dance. Maria believes God is callingher into full-time ministry, to be an instrument to usher in the 2nd coming ofChrist.
