Kara Stromberg appointed NWC Associate Superintendent
At its recent meeting, the Northwest Conference Executive Board approved the recommendation that the Rev. Kara Stromberg be selected as the new Associate Superintendent for the NWC.
Stromberg has served on the staff of the Conference as Director of Children & Family Ministry for 7 years. Prior to that, she served in a variety of roles, including Pastor to Youth and Families at Roseville Covenant Church (Roseville, MN), Director of Training at Youth Leadership, adjunct instructor at Bethel Theological Seminary and interim pastor at Roots Covenant Church in St. Paul, MN. A graduate of Bethel Seminary, Kara was ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church in 2010.
Having served churches in staff, volunteer and consultant capacities, Kara understands the unique leadership challenges of ministry teams and is excited to step into this new role with the NWC.
Superintendent Mark Stromberg (no relation) stated, “I could not be more pleased as it will provide the opportunity for Kara to utilize her gifts more fully on behalf of the churches, leaders and pastors in our region.”
Kara and her husband, Nate, live in St. Paul with their three children, Ben, Greta and Juniper. Congratulations, Kara!
Jeff Olson joins the NWC Church Planting Team
The NWC Executive Board is also pleased to announce that the Rev. Jeff Olson has joined the NWC Church Planting Team as a new part-time associate. Rev. Olson is currently the church planting pastor of Catalyst Covenant Church in St. Paul, MN. He has also been involved on the EMBRACE Team for the ECC, assisting in the development of resources for pastors and churches.
“I am so excited to have Jeff joining our church planting team in the NWC. Bringing Jeff on our team highlights our unwavering commitment to church planting,” said Mike Brown, NWC Director of Church Planting. “We also recognize that a team approach will allow us to best reach our goals as I serve both the Conference and Denomination. Jeff’s gifts and passion for planting and planting pastors will allow us to better assess and deploy those sensing a call to plant a church.”
Jeff earned his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies from Bethel University. He continued into seminary and attended classes at Gordon Conwell, North Park and finished his Masters in Divinity at Bethel Theological Seminary.
He has had the pleasure of serving in three church ministries in the past 17 years, as well as at a Christian college. All of these roles have had pioneering aspects to them where Jeff has helped to create and develop teams, services and ministries—preparing him for this exciting role with the NWC.
Jeff and his wife Lisa have three active boys, Jonas (7), August (5) and Elias (3).