New pastor practices what she preaches

Rev. Sarah Halverson thinks if Jesus Christ were alive today, he would be getting arrested in protests like the one held last month in Los Angeles for hotel workers’ rights.

Halverson, the new senior pastor at Fairview Community Church in Costa Mesa, attended the Sept. 28 protest in support of the unionization of employees at 13 Los Angeles International Airport area hotels.

The Costa Mesa High School graduate believes in not only preaching about justice from the pulpit, but also acting on what she believes is unjust. Her beliefs led her to protest with more than 2,000 people in Los Angeles.

“I have a really hard time with churches that don’t stand up for justice,” Halverson said.

Those who hired her in July as the new senior pastor hope she will bring a fresh new voice to the church.

Halverson is not only the first woman to lead the Fairview Community Church; at 29, she is also the youngest.

She began her work at the progressive Baptist church in August. Among her goals are to increase the church’s congregation. Currently, the church’s membership is at 60.

She also wants the church to be a “safe place” for the gay community, as well as for the immigrant community. She believes in social justice and inclusiveness in religion.

Halverson doesn’t look like what one might imagine a Baptist reverend to look like behind the pulpit. She wears a diamond stud on her nose and a rainbow bracelet on her left wrist. The word “equality” is written on the plastic bracelet.

The bracelet lets people from the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community know she is a “safe” person to talk to, said Halverson, who considers herself a progressive Christian.

Halverson, who is working on a doctorate degree on the New Testament at Claremont Graduate University, said the church took a chance when they hired her as the new senior pastor.

“They stepped out of their comfort zone,” Halverson, an ordained minister, said. “Being the first woman pastor and the youngest are both big steps. I think the bigger step is the fact that I’m young.”

Bea Lacey-Buchan, who was part of the church’s search committee for a new pastor, said her first impression of Halverson was that she was young.

“After meeting her and speaking to her, we realized that she’s mature beyond her years,” Lacey-Buchan said. “We were impressed with her openness and acceptance of people, no matter where they come from.”

As a member of Generation X, Halverson said there is a bias against young people.

“We have expectations that wisdom comes with age. Jesus began ministry in his 30s,” Halverson said. “The reality is that young people can be smart and wise. What is unique about me is that I’m not afraid to speak my truth from the pulpit; I think that’s why they called me.”

As a pastor, she has opinions on a variety of controversial subjects.

On the illegal immigration issue, she said for her “there are no borders in God’s creation.”

Her inclusiveness and acceptance is apparent when she discusses religion.

“I feel that spirituality isn’t confined within one religion. We’re all connected,” said Halverson, who has books on religions such as Buddhism in her church office.

Her schooling on religion began as a youth attending Irvine United Congregational Church with her mother Jeanne. Her father died when she was 14.

She earned a master’s degree in divinity from the Claremont School of Theology and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and religion from Chapman University.

Before accepting the job as senior pastor at Fairview, she was minister of education and youth ministries at the United Church of the Valley in Murrieta, where she began work in March 2005.

Lacey-Buchan said the church had been without a permanent senior pastor for more than three years. The last senior pastor before Halverson was Bill Godwin, who replaced Gary Barmore when he retired in 2002 after more than 20 years at the church.

Halverson said sometimes being the voice of dissent is not easy, but her faith and compass- ionate living keep her going.

“I’m an idealist, but I’m not so naïve to think that the world is going to change overnight,” she said.

The church is “expecting great things from her,” Lacey-Buchan said.