Welcome Pastor Carrie McElfresh and Family!
An Introduction to Pastor Carrie (and family)
You all may have read an introductory biography that I shared with Trinity during the end of the call process, but I thought perhaps it would be useful to get a few more insights on who I am, and by extension my family. There are many things that I love and am passionate about aside from God, faith and church. One of the first is water, mostly the kinds of water that you can swim in. I grew up in Arizona (until I was 10) and we always had a pool in our backyard. As a young child I took part in summer teams of synchronized swimming at the local Jr Highs. When we moved to Arkansas, I could not do synchro anymore, but resorted to a “regular” swim team which I enjoyed through junior high. To this day life feels much more peaceful when I am in the water regularly. I am not a huge fan of lake swimming, but I adore any chance I get to be at the ocean. When I was in high school it was my dearest wish to be a marine biologist and spend my life on the ocean (but God had a different plan for me).
As you might guess though, with a desire to be a marine biologist, I deeply enjoyed science classes and am still very rooted to trusting the scientific method to learn more about the world we live in. I encourage my children to wonder about the world, even though I am sometimes exhausted of all the questions they ask (and their refusal to accept my answers as valid). My older son, Ian – who is 7, has a great mind for wondering how things work. He is constantly trying to take things apart and put them back together. This is good with his Legos, this is not good with our electronics. My younger son, Colin – who will be 3 soon, also asks many questions, but they are mostly just “why?”
Another thing that I enjoy is reading books. Many books that I read would fall into the science fiction or fantasy categories. I love epic tales that span many books. But I also read a decent amount of inspirational writers and (of course) theological books. In addition to reading, I find myself watching a number of baking shows on tv – even though I rarely take the time to bake. In our family, my husband, Dan, is far more likely to make the time to bake something delicious. He has joined in with the pandemic crowd and started finding all sorts of ways to bake with his sourdough starter.
Finally, I love to sing. I am not a professionally trained vocalist, but I like to think I have a fairly decent voice. Lately, most of my singing has reverted to children’s songs, or singing along with whatever playlist is on while I am cleaning or driving in the car. But the hymns of the church are ingrained in my soul and I cannot help but sing them to myself as I work on plans for worship. My step-daughter, Hannah – who is 13, shares this love of music and singing. She was in multiple choirs last school year and was even willing to go to school early in order to participate in one of them. Well mostly willing… getting up early is hard.
And that is, more or less, me and my family. We are ordinary and wonderful. And we are so excited to be a part of the community of Trinity and join with all of your families in fellowship, worship and service.
I look forward to learning about each of your families in the coming weeks!