The Pastor Nominating Committee joyfully and thankfully will introduce The Rev. Karen M. Greschel to the Northkirk congregation and community on the weekend of June 19-21 as the one God is calling to pastor us and minister with us in our community.

 The Rev. Greschel will be coming to us from her current call as Interim Associate Pastor of Congregational Care at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church (California) since May 2005. Other ministry experiences include six years as Associate Pastor at Malibu Presbyterian Church, a staff position at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, and an outreach ministry in the Sacramento area. A graduate of the University of Kansas, she went on to teach upper grades (7-9) in Kansas before attending law school for two years. God was persistent in her life and drew her to Fuller Theological Seminary where she earned a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Care and Counseling.

 She wants “to serve a church that has great expectations! I am eager to be part of a community of faith that expects to encounter the living God every day….” She has “spiritual gifts in preaching and teaching, leadership, encouragement, intercession and shepherding, as well as a healthy sense of humor,” whereby she is able to “nurture, challenge, counsel, equip and love those in the body of Christ and the community at large.” She brings “a hunger for Jesus and a passion to minister,” and that hunger and passion came through in all of our conversations with Karen. She is an incredibly relational person who depends upon prayer and the Holy Spirit to do great things. She not only talks the evangelism talk, but walks the walk. (Ask her, for instance, about her experience as chaplain to the dog park.)