| Our Regular pastor, Tom Vandestadt, will be on sabbatical until the end of November. Until then, Dr. Frank H. Dietz will serve as our pastor.
Frank H. Dietz, a native of New Orleans and product of the public schools of mid-twentieth century. Graduating from Elmhurst College (Illinois) and Eden Theological Seminary (St. Louis)  Frank studied in many other settings for continuing education and acquired a Masters from none other than Texas A&M University while pastor in Aggieland in the 1970's. Frank has been an ordained UCC pastor for nearly fifty years, having served churches before retirement in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Texas. He took a thirteen year excursion into an ecumenical expression of ministry directing (he says "gophering") the Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic Texas Conference of Churches. In that "Tejas parish" adventures in border and farm labor justice as well as environmental, health and children's issues abounded both in service ministries and public policy advocacy. Frank most recently has completed an interim ministry as pastor & teacher for a challenged congergation in the Zuehl community (Marion, Texas) but now joins the ministry adventures of Congegational UCC in Austin during the pastor's sabbatical. Frank's married to Karen Pantermuehl and they have two sons, Kevin and Mark, of Austin and D/FW who provide them with six lively young grandchildren, . . . !!!
Our pastor, Tom VandeStadt (presently on sabbatical), was born and raised in Connecticut, and lived in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York before moving to Austin, Texas in 2001. He holds a B.A. in political science from Moravian College, an M.A. in  cultural anthropology from State University of New York, and an M. Div. from Boston University.
Tom worked in several homeless shelters in Boston while attending seminary, and directed a shelter program after graduation. He served as Minister of Mission Outreach at the Congregational Churches in Weston and Waltham, Massachusetts; co-pastor of the Manchester Parish UCC outside of Baltimore, Maryland; pastor of the Arcade United Church of Christ outside of Buffalo, New York; and pastor of Fairmount Community Church UCC in Syracuse, New York.
Since he has been in Austin, Tom has served as Moderator of the Brazos Association of the South Central Conference UCC, and as a member of the Brazos Association Committee on Church and Ministry. He is currently one of the South Central Conference's Disaster Response Coordinators. He is also the co-chair of the Religion and Labor Network of Austin, a coalition of faith communities, labor unions, and workers' rights advocates that pursues workplace justice in Austin. He is active in the work of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries and Texas Impact. His hobbies include cycling, and he is a member of the Austin Cycling Association.
Tom is married to Robin Chapman, who works as a staff attorney at the Texas Department of Health Services. His daughter, Alex, attends middle school, has two dogs, and volunteers at Town Lake Animal Shelter.
Read some of Tom's sermons here.
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