On August 23rd the CUC congregation congregation enthusiastically voted in favor of Rev. Jill VanderWal being called as our Senior Pastor! She has served our community well as Associate Pastor and we look forward to installing her into this new role after Presbytery approval in October.
Rev. Jill VanderWal
Life & Ministry Before CUC
Church and life are woven together for Rev Jill Vanderwal from her early days, born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, to present day as Associate Pastor at Columbine United Church. When it was time to launch, she left Boulder and attended University of Washington in Seattle and studied International Studies with an emphasis in Foreign Policy, Peace and Diplomacy. Alongside studying, Jill interned at University Presbyterian Church with their college Ministry called The Inn. The Inn had a Tuesday evening Ministry at 9:00 p.m. attended by a thousand students. It was a thriving Ministry and a dynamic place for Jill to gain leadership experience. While she had a strong passion to work in the foreign service, she also enjoyed local ministry.
After college, she moved to Colorado Springs to accept a position as the Director of Youth/High School Ministries at First Presbyterian Church Colorado Springs. During her time in Colorado Springs she led mission trips to Mexico, Nicaragua, Chicago, and at the Lame Deer Reservation in Montana. One of the most memorable experiences in youth ministry was designing and leading an annual Lake Powell House trip for 80 students and leaders. First Presbyterian Church Colorado Springs gave her a chance to serve on an 80-member executive staff and learn the inner-workings of a large Church. During this time, she began her Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary in Colorado Springs and came under care as a candidate for ordination with the Pueblo Presbytery. In the midst of ministry and schooling, Jill met her now husband Scott. They were both students at Fuller and moved to Pasadena, CA to finish their Master’s of Divinity on Fuller’s campus in 2005.
Jill completed her clinical pastoral education internship at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, then was hired to work as a ministry coach and trainer with CoachNet International. Her role included training Pastors in the techniques for successful personal coaching. Scott was hired to work as a Residence Life Coordinator at Seattle Pacific University, and they moved to Seattle in 2007. During their time in Seattle, Jill worked with CoachNet before being hired to work at First Presbyterian Church Seattle, where Scott and Jill had been worshiping, as Director of Innovation and Leadership Development. First Presbyterian Church Seattle was a small (150-member) diverse downtown church with a men’s shelter and recovery program on site. During their time in Seattle, Judah and Zoe were born.
Jill and Scott shared their first ordained call to First Presbyterian Church Pueblo as Co-Associate Pastors in the summer of 2011 where the family spent 4 years in ministry. Once arriving, it became clear that both of them serving as Pastors wouldn’t provide enough financially, so Scott transitioned out of the role, while Jill remained Pastor. This setting, a downtown medium-sized church, was a great place to learn and grow in community-based ministry. Near the end of their time in Pueblo, Jill was left to the task of leading the church without a Senior Pastor. This experience, she would find out later, equipped her for her next call.
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Following Pueblo, Scott was called to First Presbyterian Church in Holland, MI and Jill was hired on as part of an interim pastor team at First Presbyterian Church Grand Haven, a large historic church in a town 30 miles north of Holland. Grand Haven is like Estes Park, a smaller town on Lake Michigan with a beautiful beach and a Coast Guard Festival that brings in thousands. In Grand Haven, Jill worked to lead the congregation in a time of healing from conflict, grow out of their strengths, and help them lean into their next chapter. Being the only experienced Pastor on staff, she embraced the demands before her with a reassured confidence that she was doing the work she was made for. Before leaving, she served on the Lake Michigan Staff Resources Committee and helped restructure their staff to better protect the congregation from repeated conflict.
At the end of her time in Grand Haven, Jill was called to Columbine United Church in the fall of 2018 and started in February of 2019. Her family was excited to move back to Colorado, and in a serendipitous coincidence moved to the city where her mom was a teenager (A LHS Grad). Jill was hired in the Associate Pastor role to bring new energy to community life.
Jill and Scott have two teens, Judah and Zoe and share life with a dog, cats, chincillas, and a frog. They love life in Colorado and the outdoors, whether that’s in the mountains or on their back porch. Jill enjoys gardening, cooking, travel, and art. She is in her last year of work on her Doctor of Ministry degree in the area of Organizational Change. She plans to graduate in the spring and looks forward to more free time!
The motion to establish a Pastoral Nominating Committee to conduct the search for an Associate Pastor Passed on Sunday, August 23rd.
