Pastor Shannyn is Lead Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Seattle.  Previously she serves as the Pastor for Children, Youth, and Family Ministry at Saint John Lutheran Church in Council Bluffs, IA.  A graduate (2010) of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, she received her Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Ministry.  While on internship, one of the youth said, “I think I’ll call you P.S.” thus creating the nickname.  Pastor Shannyn’s undergraduate degree is from Luther College in Decorah, IA where she received a B.A. in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education.

A native of Racine, Wisconsin Pastor Shannyn served as a youth director for three years in Waunakee, WI before heading off to seminary.  Though she now lives in Washington, she will always be a Wisconsin Badger fan.

She is married to Jeremy, also an ELCA pastor and they delight in their dogs, Lucy and Millie.  Pastor Shannyn has two older brothers and an identical twin sister.  She loves her nieces and nephews and godchildren.  As her family is spread out around the United States, it is not unusual for her to be traveling via plane or car whenever her schedule allows.

Having an affinity towards fitness, health, and wellness you will often find her at the local YMCA’s teaching Les Mills fitness classes.  She thoroughly enjoys coaching and encouraging people to reach their goals.  Before becoming involved with Les Mills classes during seminary, she was a high school cross country, track, and gymnastics coach in Wisconsin.

Pastor Shannyn has a passion for sharing faith, learning together, and encouraging daily lifelong faith experiences for the home, family, and individual.  She is honored to sit on the board of Vibrant Faith Ministries where resources and learning abound for people from all faith traditions, backgrounds, life situations, and ages.  Learning, thinking, innovative ideas, missional leadership, and connecting with people are strong interest areas for Pastor Shannyn thus, her interest in this blog.  She looks forward to wondering with you, knowing that there’s always more! 🙂