Carolyn

Carolyn has been a rostered church leader since 1985, serving the church as a deaconess in a variety of calls including Parish Worker, Social Worker, Church Relations Director, and in Interim Ministry.  A graduate of Newberry College, a Lutheran college in South Carolina, she attended graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University and has a Master of Arts in Religion from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a Master of Social Work and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  She graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in May, 2011 with a Master of Divinity, served an internship at Friedens Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was ordained on Sunday, May 19, 2012 at Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, Nebraska, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Bethany, Dave, Carolyn, Daniel, and Emily at Carolyn’s ordination!

After serving as their interim minister since September 15, 2011, she served as Pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in St. Paul through August, 2016.

In July of 2016, Carolyn was called to serve as Senior Pastor of Central Lutheran Church in Yakima, Washington.  Carolyn and Dave relocated to Yakima in August and purchased a home not far from the church.  Yakima is a beautiful place in the valley of south central Washington.  Some 75% of the hops used in breweries across the US is grown here, as are many fruits and vegetables, especially Washington Apples.  The mild, dry climate is so different from the humid and quickly changing weather of the plains.

Central Lutheran Church is a congregation with vision and energy!  There are so many things going on in the church and around the community.  They seek to be involved wherever needed and the building is very busy throughout the week.  Their worship life is exciting!  Dave’s happy to be singing in a church choir again, and he’s hoping to learn how to play in the bell choir, too!  There is so much to do in and around Yakima!

Please visit the church website to learn more about their ministry and Carolyn’s activities at:  www.clcyakima.org, as well as the Central Lutheran Church Facebook page.

Carolyn participated in a pastor exchange program with Rev. John Njau from Tema Parish near Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania in April-May, 2015.   This was an exciting experience in ministry.  Her blog is still posted on the home page of this family website!!!

She is currently in the Doctor of Ministry Program in Preaching at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, with plans to graduate in May of 2018.

carolyn@hellerich.com

509.571.6679