Maureen Smith, Pastoral Associate
Maureen Smith came to Central in 1999 as a seminary intern and fell in love with the congregation. She feels fortunate that she has been able to stay on in a part-time role as pastoral associate. She leads an adult Bible study Sunday mornings at 9:30, often joins in worship leadership, preaches a few times a year, does some pastoral visiting, and helps with publicity for the church.
Maureen worked for many years as a writer at the University of Minnesota before going to United Theological Seminary in her 50s. She graduated from UTS with a master of divinity degree in 2001 and received the Alfred and Catherine Koch Memorial Award for her work as an intern at Central. Her earlier degrees are in English, a bachelor of science degree from (then) Mankato State College and a master of arts degree from the University of Illinois.
One of Maureen's loves is international travel, and she has strong interests in cross-cultural learning and interfaith dialogue. She has been involved in both Jewish-Christian and Christian-Muslim dialogue and in anti-racism work and has good friends who are Buddhists. One of the things she loves most about Central is its diversity.
A lifelong learner, she has recently taken classes on the Harlem Renaissance, Arab writers, Hinduism and Buddhism, and active nonviolence. She traveled to India and Nepal in 2005 and Spain and Portugal in 2006. She is also a baseball fan and a movie fan.
Maureen is single, with one brother, and has a strong circle of friends who are like family to her, including her 11-year-old niece of the heart Maggie, adopted from China.
In her seven years at Central, she has seen times of celebration and of struggle. She is excited to be at Central now at a time when it is growing in membership, worship attendance, mission, and vision.