Pastor Claire was born and raised in Virginia and made her way west to Boulder, CO, after college when she was an Americorps Vista Volunteer. Boulder is where she met her husband, Joel, who was finishing his Ph.D in physics and analytical chemistry at CU-Boulder.
Joel’s first job post Doctorate was back home - - in VIRGINIA - - - where Pastor Claire attended seminary at Wesley Theological Seminary. After completing seminary, Pastor Claire moved for Joel’s work several times, landing them in Boise, ID, where she was a probationary member and finally ordained in 2005 in the (then) OR-ID annual conference.
Pastor Claire and her family have been back in CO since 2005, again moving for Joels work, where he is still employed, at Seagate Technology, in Longmont, CO.
Pastor Claire and Joel have 3 boys: Ethan, 20, Will, 19, and Wynn 16. Ethan is a sophomore at UNC in Greeley and has a scholarship to play football. Will is a freshman at CSU and also plays football. Wynn is a Junior at Skyline HS in Longmont, and aspires to play a different sport in college- baseball! He also plays football in HS. Their sports have kept us busy through the years.
Pastor Claire has served a variety of sizes of churches- large downtown church as an Executive Pastor at Boise First ( Cathedral of the Rockies); Lyons Community Church half time, where she participated in cooperative ministry with Erie (with Jim Calhoun and Linda Freund); Father Dyer UMC in Breckenridge; and most recently just two years in Greenwood Village at Hope UMC. After a very scary ( and life altering) health episode in May of 2019, she decided to make a change and take a break from full time pastoral ministry, and requested a leave of absence to allow for more time at home; to create a simpler and more grounded life with her family, living on a farm with her horses, dogs, cat, chickens, and ducks, in NW Longmont. It’s been a joy filled summer to say the least! She is back to her very healthy self and is grateful for the slower rhythm in life. She has loved her many years of pastoral ministry and is excited to share her gifts with a new congregation.
In her free time, Pastor Claire can be found on her horse, competing in horse shows jumping, or caring for the retired horses they board on their property. If she’s not riding, she’s walking, hiking, riding her bike or doing just about anything outside! And if you can’t find her there, you can find her sitting on either a baseball or foot bleacher watching her kids play!
She is looking forward to fruitful ministry together!