Pastor Donna Simon is a
Midwesterner by birth (and temperament), though she has spent much of her life
on the West Coast. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University and
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. Pastor Donna Simon
Pastor Donna Simon is a
Midwesterner by birth (and temperament), though she has spent much of her life
on the West Coast. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University and
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California.
Pastor Donna was called into the ministry from a volunteer position as church youth director at Messiah Lutheran Church, Redwood City, California. After she began spending more and more time at church, working with youth and volunteering for pretty much everything else, her pastor encouraged her to attend seminary. She began studies at PLTS in 1995. She had the privilege of returning to Ann Arbor, Michigan—her first home—in 1998-99 for an internship at Lord of Light Lutheran Church and Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Michigan.
When Donna appeared before her candidacy committee in 1999 for the final step before ordination, she told them that she would not pledge compliance with the church’s Vision and Expectations Statement, which requires lifelong celibacy for gay and lesbian candidates. Though the candidacy panel recommended approval, the full committee postponed her approval pending change in denominational policy.
She applied to the Extraordinary Candidacy Project, which works in partnership with Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries to match qualified gay and lesbian candidates with Lutheran churches willing to call them to ministry. Within a year, Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Missouri had called Donna to be their pastor.
Pastor Donna has served Abiding Peace since August of 2000. She loves the community dearly, and feels that her call is a gift from God. She hopes to continue to teach and to learn alongside the people of Abiding Peace for years to come.