St. Matthew Calls New Associate Minister
St. Matthew called Taylor Berdahl to be our next Associate Minister on Sunday, August 15. Our new pastor graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion/Religious Studies in 2017. She then studied at the United Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, PA, and received her Master of Divinity degree in 2021.
Taylor grew up active in her home church, often through music and Scripture reading, and spent many summers working in Lutheran church camps, day camps, and as a Lutheran Youth Leadership Experience Coordinator. Throughout seminary, she made a concerted effort to supply preach regularly, and led worship three times a week during her internship this past year at a 3-point parish (three small churches as part of one parish) in the Bendersville, PA, area. She worked diligently with this parish through the pandemic, adjusting to online, outdoor and remote worship contexts independently. No other pastor was onsite to serve these congregations during this time.
She has experience designing, selecting and leading curricula for faith formation through outdoor ministry, online learning, intergenerational and traditional Sunday School classroom settings. Taylor will be working closely with young families to generate excitement and interest in programs for them and their children. St. Matthew has found the perfect fit for that task.
Taylor is married to Andrew Berdahl, a recent graduate of the United Lutheran Seminary. Andrew is in the Pennsylvania National Guard and is currently a Chaplain candidate for the National Guard. We welcome Taylor and Andrew to our St. Matthew family and look forward to sharing in ministry together.