Pastors

Jan Womer

Transition PastorPastor Jan and friend, Renu

I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and moved to California to complete my last two years of college at UC Riverside. After debating whether to be a pastor, a teachr or a lawyer, I went to Seminary in Berkeley. Then on to Oxford University in England to complete a Ph.D. in church history.

I was the youth director in a church while I was in college and then was a university campus pasotr in London while I did graduate work. After that my wife and I spent four years in Sumatra, Indonesia (where the tsunami hit!). I taught in a university there (history and community development). Then we spent nine years in england where our sons attended elementary school and I taught at Oxford. I also became Principal of Mansfield College, one of the Oxford Univ colleges.

I used to surf every day…rowed in 4 and 8 man boats…sailed….too old for that kind of stuff now!

My wife and I scuba dive and enjoy travel. My hobbies are steam engines/trains, tracing family history, and attending Scottish games. We have 3 rescued cats and our first grandchild on the way. Life is good!

 

Allen SchoonoverAbby, Karen and Pastor Al on The Great Wall of China

Associate Pastor

 If I were to pick one word that best describes my faith journey it would be “curious.”  I wasn’t born and raised Lutheran - or even Christian.  In High School, I became curious about who God was and how Jesus might love me.  Before that, I wasn’t really very interested in “God-stuff.”  Buth thanks to Jan Blum, a high school friend, I became curious.  There was something about her - and no, it wasn’t her good looks! - that said to me, “Hey, Al, she’s got something that you need.”  She got me curious about God.

Fast forward to college and my roommate my Junior year.  His name was Mike Schuleter, and thanks to some late night conversations, I got more curious about Jesus and this fellah named Martin Luther.  I decided to go on to seminary after college because I was still curious about God and how Lutherans understood Him.  Eventually, I became a pastor so that I could hang out with other curious people and through them, get to know Jesus better.

I’ve been very blessed by this God-

     with a wonderful family: my wife, Karen, and my two daughters Abby and Amy;

     with the opportunity to serve God and to walk along side other curious people;

     with the chance to live in Fresno near our extended family.

 

Warren Nelson

Pastor Nelson

Shut In/Visitation Pastor

Tall, white, wavy haired guy who always wears a suit and tie or a sports coat on Sundays - that’s Pastor Nelson, our shut in/visitation pastor.

He hasn’t always been a pastor, however. Back in the “old days” (the 50’s and early 60’s) he was a TV announcer, a professional singer and a radio disc jockey who interviewed many famous people including Elvis. He also toured with the Covenant Players who appeared in churches throughout the West. He was a member of “The Greatest Generation” on Guam toward the end of WWII as well as the Navy during the Korean War and as an Air Force Chaplain Lt. Col. during the Vietnam War. He’s really old! He’s married to Sharon, a retired teacher and zoo docent. They have a cat (Miss Kitty), two basset hounds (Suzie and Sam) and three birds. They have two grown up sons who were adopted. In the late 70’s and 80’s Pastor Nelson was pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran (the tent church) on Fruit. Prior to that he served churches in Santa Maria, San Pedro and Sylmar, CA.

So now that you know who he is, when you see him at church say hello and ask him about Elvis.