About Stephanie Anthony

Most of my childhood was spent growing up on the east coast of Florida, and it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that I have now lived more of my life out of Florida than I ever lived in it.  Not that I consider myself a Floridian.  Very few people can really claim that title.  I just never know quite how to answer the question “Where are you from?”

After graduating from high school in 1995, I studied at and graduated from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, majoring in both biology and religion.  I continued directly on to Columbia Theological Seminary, graduating with my Master of Divinity in 2002.

My first call in ministry was to First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Nebraska as an associate pastor.  I served there June 2002-August 2007.  While in Nebraska I met my husband, Phil, and gave birth to my first two children, Karoline and William.

My second call in ministry is at First Presbyterian Church in Hudson, Wisconsin.  Here I serve as a solo pastor to a wonderful congregation whose mission is to explore faith, share God’s love, and grown disciples of Jesus among friends and strangers.  Since moving to Wisconsin our family welcomed our third (and final) child, Margaret.

I currently serve as the pastor and head of staff of Fox Valley Presbyterian Church in Geneva, Illinois, an inclusive family of loving servants and faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

I’d fill the rest of this space with what I like to do in my spare time, but it would be aspirational more than accurate.  I used to read more than I do now.  I used to knit more than I do now.  I used to spin wool into yarn more than I do now.  I used to journal more than I do now.  I hope to learn to get back to many of these things soon.  I do my best not worship at the altar of busy, so I won’t blame my lapsed hobbies on that.  I will say that being a wife, mother, and pastor are wonderfully engaging vocations and leave me looking for more brainless activities than reading, knitting, and spinning when I get to the end of a day.

I am a part of the RevGalBlogPals webring and have a chapter called “For Some Reason” in the book by this group called There’s a Woman in the Pulpit, edited by the Rev. Martha Spong.

Professionally I have served as the vice moderator and moderator of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, the vice moderator of the Immigration and Environmental Issues Committee of the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and in various roles in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.  I am currently an elected member of the Commitee on the Office of the General Assembly of the PC(USA).

5 thoughts on “About Stephanie Anthony”

  1. Thank you for your words. Many of us pastors are exhausted by this constant drum beat of vengeance. This morning I woke up thinking of Nelson Mandela. If ever a man had reason for vengeance, it would have been Mandela. Instead he led his country onto a path of unity. A person who leads out of love can accomplish much more in inspiring Spirit in others. One who leads out of hate, kills the spirit. I’ve been saying to people ” what would youbthink, how would you react if I got in the pulpit and called other leaders in the same church dirty names? What if I refused to give communion to those who might disagree with me?” Why is is OK for leafer of ‘free world’ to behave this way?
    It will get worse before it gets better. But you are not alone.

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    • The whole event ended with a video prayer/benediction from Rep. John Lewis. He was too unwell to be there in person. His piece was recorded a few days ahead of time. It was an amazingly stark contrast to the president’s words. He talked about having been beaten and left for dead and still loving those who tried to kill him. That after the president said he couldn’t like people who said they pray for him but he doubts it or those who opposed him in the impeachment process.

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  2. Stephanie,

    I do not know you but I want to thank you for your willingness to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. How painful! I pray for you and your congregation. These days I like to take hope in the Hebrew Scriptures concept of the Remnant. The Way is difficult to follow and the costs are great. We are called to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. In the era of the USA prosperity gospel, it can be a lonely place to be. I hope we can all cling to each other so we do not loose all hope….

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  3. I am sorry for your experience at the National Prayer Breakfast this year.
    I have no doubt it wasn’t what you had hoped for, nor expected. I am glad I was not there to witness it.
    I believe what you saw had two keys underlying.
    Trump. When I worked in a Psychiatric Institute decades ago we didn’t use today’s PC terms like ASPD. We just called it sociopathy, and people like Trump sociopaths.
    But the common feature of them all is this: They truly do not have a fiber of real compassion or caring for any other living beings, and nothing can or will ever restore what has never been there in them.
    Because of that, they learn how to manipulate people very well, but they never ever learn to recognize how it is that certain actions make all the rest of us screech inside in horror at their inhumanity. Because they really don’t have that one common spiritual sense that almost all of humanity, and very many of the lesser animals, too, have. Love for each other.
    The second thing that made the prayer breakfast so discordant, so incomprehensible, was the willingness of the people to hand over to this incomplete man, their trust and decision-making in exchange for an empty promise of improvement in their lives at the expense of others.
    He sold them the lie that life can only be a zero-sum game, and that they must join his team to get any of the winnings here on earth.
    Both of those ideas are very enticing lies.
    They’ve been around since before Moses and the Golden Calf.
    You were watching it again and seeing how powerful, infectious, disruptive, and damaging it is.
    We cannot lead a sociopath to a “come to Jesus” event in his or her life. That emptiness of soul in those individuals is beyond the reach of anything in their lifetimes.
    Our sole option is to take away their power to do harm to others.
    In this case, we really must remove him from any involvement in our government.
    At this point, it looks like it is up to all voting citizens to accomplish that.
    Surely we must because every day he is in office he damages the core structure of our nation more. May Peace and Love be in your heart and guide you in the days ahead.
    Kenneth Fisher

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