A native of Orange County , Sarah was raised in a progressive church, Irvine United Church of Christ was educated at Chapman University (she currently sits on the Church Relations Committee), and went on to pursue a Ph.D. in the New Testament from Claremont Graduate University . After finishing coursework, Sarah felt compelled to enter the ministry, and so enrolled at Claremont School of Theology where she earned her masters of divinity. Though ministry is currently her first priority, she intends to complete her doctorate in the New Testament. Sarah's academic studies have led her to Israel, where her interest in archaeology found her excavating at the ancient sites of Sepphoris and Cana. Her love of studying the early life of Jesus and the social world in which he formulated his thoughts, ideas, and ministry, informs her approach to ministry. Highly influenced by Jesus' call to social action in pursuit of justice and peace and the Hebrew prophets Isaiah and Micah, Rev. Halverson finds herself drawn to justice issues, and compelled to fight for the rights of the oppressed. Her ministry at Fairview and within the larger community reflect this call to justice. She is actively involved in reproductive rights, working with Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, worker rights as she joined efforts with several local unions and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), as well as LGBT rights working towards equal marriage for all people and an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation, while also involved with California Interfaith Power and Light to raise consciousness on environmental issues. She is a member of the executive council of The Center for Progressive Christianity and currently serves as the chair of the Orange County Steering commitee of Progressive Christians Uniting chapter. Ordained into the United Church of Christ, she has been active within her denomination at the national, conference level, and association level, having served on the National Council for Youth and Young Adult ministries, the Southern California Nevada Conference UCC board of directors, and several other conference committees. For years she was very active in youth ministry and Pilgrim Pines camp. Sarah’s first call was as the associate pastor at United Church of the Valley, a Disciples of Christ and UCC congregation. She is now our senior pastor at Fairview Community Church, a small, intelligent, theologically and socially progressive congregation of the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ in Costa Mesa, CA. Sarah’s sermons can be heard via podcast at: http://fairviewcc.mypodcast.com/ or here in our sermon podcasts.
