Pastor Fred came to First Christian Church in April 2006, having served previous congregations as pastor in Washington, Idaho, Kansas, and Iowa. He has undergraduate degrees from Seattle Bible College and Northwest College in Kirkland, Washington, and is a graduate of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education at the VA Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas, with a special focus on family systems and post-traumatic stress disorder. After seminary Fred did further graduate studies at the University of Iowa School of Social Work. He was ordained in 1994.
Personally, Fred enjoys classical music and jazz, particularly anything by Handel or Vivaldi on the classical side, and anything by Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr., or Rosemary Clooney on the jazz/popular side. His favorite music of all time is Handel’s Messiah. An avid reader, Fred is particularly interested in works on leadership, technology, and systems theory. He also enjoys many periodicals on culture and current events. The best food this side of heaven in Fred’s opinion is Italian, followed closely by pancakes, preferably multi-grain. And then there is a good, strong, hot cup of coffee, which Fred enjoys sharing with anyone who has time.
Carolyn Sternowski - Music Director
Carolyn enjoys all kinds of music. Her favorite hymn is “Thy Strong Word Didst Cleave the Darkness.”
Carolyn is originally from Virginia, but has lived in Cedar Rapids for over 35 years. She has three grown children and two toddler grandchildren. She and her husband Bob are still HUGE Dayton Flyers fans, as well as HUGE Star Trek fans.
Currently, Carolyn plays the harp with two ensembles: Young At Harp and The Marion Chamber Trio. She also plays “keys” in the Marion Big Band. She is a member of the Iowa Committee for the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. Carolyn is also a published handbell arranger with GIA Publications.
Carolyn has worked in music ministry since graduating from the University of Dayton where she studied organ, piano, and music education. In addition to working in church music, she has also taught classroom music and privately taught piano and guitar.
Mary Flock - Church Secretary
Mary attended Western Wisconsin Technical College to pursue a degree in Visual Communications. Mary and her husband moved to Cedar Rapids exactly one week after getting married and have lived here for over 20 years. After the births of their two daughters, Mary went back to work various jobs in the editorial field including Telecom USA Publishing Company (now known as Yellow Book), Henry Russell Bruce Advertising Agency and Aegon. While at HRB, Mary also worked as the backup Administrative Assistant. As a former resident of Wisconsin, Mary is, of course, a Green Bay Packer fan and went so far as to buy stock in the team to become one of the owners of the only publicly owned team in the NFL.
Pastor Fred came to First Christian Church in April 2006, having served previous congregations as pastor in Washington, Idaho, Kansas, and Iowa. He has undergraduate degrees from Seattle Bible College and Northwest College in Kirkland, Washington, and is a graduate of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education at the VA Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas, with a special focus on family systems and post-traumatic stress disorder. After seminary Fred did further graduate studies at the University of Iowa School of Social Work. He was ordained in 1994.
Carolyn enjoys all kinds of music. Her favorite hymn is “Thy Strong Word Didst Cleave the Darkness.”
Mary attended Western Wisconsin Technical College to pursue a degree in Visual Communications. Mary and her husband moved to Cedar Rapids exactly one week after getting married and have lived here for over 20 years. After the births of their two daughters, Mary went back to work various jobs in the editorial field including Telecom USA Publishing Company (now known as Yellow Book), Henry Russell Bruce Advertising Agency and Aegon. While at HRB, Mary also worked as the backup Administrative Assistant. As a former resident of Wisconsin, Mary is, of course, a Green Bay Packer fan and went so far as to buy stock in the team to become one of the owners of the only publicly owned team in the NFL.