We are proud and happy to welcome Rev. Britt Vickstrom as our new permanent pastor!  Also, special thanks to Pastor Sandra Daily for her gracious service to the church during the search for a new pastor.

Here is Rev. Vickstrom’s first personal message to the congregation:

Hello people of St. James! I’m so very excited to be serving this            congregation and this community. I’m looking forward to getting to know more about you and St. James.

Here is a little bit more about me. I have three cats, Sittler (named for Prof. Joseph Sitter, a Lutheran theologian and campus ministry advocate, and besides, it would be cruel to name a dog Sitt-ler), Thekla, named for a 1st century saint who, among other attempts on her life, was supposedly defended against a lion attack by lionesses, and Mungo, named for a Scottish museum of religious life and art, which is named for Scottish saint whose nickname, Mungo, means dear one.

I am a big fan of movies of just about every genre. I dabble in genealogy. I used to play rugby and I love to watch rugby, ice hockey and baseball (I root for the Cardinals).  I am a West Des Moines Valley grad, but please don’t hold it against me. I am an only child, but I have a stepsister who lives in Bettendorf with her husband and two kids, and a stepbrother who lives in Pensacola, FL with his wife and their two kids.

I went to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where I majored in   religion and minored in Russian language and literature. I spent my junior year abroad at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), where I returned to complete a Master’s degree, focusing on ecology and theology.  I completed seminary education at Wartburg, in Dubuque. I love  horrible puns, chocolate, and exploring.