Dear St. John’s Family: 

The Search and Call team would like to welcome the Rev. Linda Noonan to our St John’s family! 

We are excited to announce, that on Sunday November 17th, the members of St. John’s voted the Rev. Linda Noonan as our new Senior Pastor! Rev. Noonan is serving out her contract with her current church and will start her call with St John’s in March 2025. 

During the interview process for our new Senior Pastor, the Search and Call Team focused on the Core Competencies of our future Senior Pastor as outlined in our Church Profile; 

Collaborative

Compassionate

Inspirational

During our zoom and in person interviews with Rev. Noonan, we found her to be very engaging and interested as she listened to our concerns with compassion and care. It was during our time together that Rev. Noonan shared that she was passionate about church being a place where we “figure out what justice looks like, practice our values and put people at the front that the world puts in the back.” Rev. Noonan also said that she loves “creating worship experiences that are embodied, sensory-rich, intellectually stimulating, creative, inclusive and joyful.” 

Rev. Noonan also took it upon herself to visit our community with Pastor Fritz of Trinity Lutheran Church. Together they toured Manna on Main St. and many of our local businesses where she interacted with the local community members. The Search and Call Team felt this visit to our community reflected how interested and committed Rev. Noonan was to St. John’s and mirrored our ministry goals and desired qualities which were;

• Recover from losses 

• Grow membership and strengthen intergenerational relationships 

• Engage with the community and increase visibility 

• Strong spiritual and emotional support during discernment and growth phases 

• Gently guide in new vision blending traditions with new ideas for growth and outreach and lead us in achieving goals outlined in visioning. 

“ … My search led me to charismatic churches and toxic theologies, and being told I could not lead because I was a woman. Then I discovered spiritual communities that practiced extravagant welcome, prophetic witness, and care for a world in need. I knew I was home and that this was to be my work.” 

Rev. Linda Noonan is an Ordained Minister with full standing in the United Church of Christ and holds a current standing in the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference. She resides in Haverford with her husband and two adult daughters. She is a member of St. Paul’s UCC in Exton PA and has been their full-time Designated Pastor since 2022.  

The Search and Call Team felt Rev. Noonan had a very impressive resume. She was experienced and well rounded. She has the skills and experience to lead us now and into Who We Want to Become. Her Education and vocational background speak to the skills and experience needed to lead a congregation, of the size, diversity, interests, at St. John’s now and into the future. Her Community & Wider Church Involvement speak not only to leadership but to her interests and heart which align with St. John’s profile and vision. 

Below, please note Rev. Linda Noonan’s bio:  

A native Midwesterner (Chicago and Indiana), Linda Noonan has spent the last thirty-five years of ministry between South Africa and the United States. She has served a small Polish UCC church in Chicago, a multiracial UCC/Disciples of Christ congregation on the University of Chicago campus, and served as Senior Pastor of Chestnut Hill United Church (UCC/United Methodist) in Philadelphia for twenty-one years. She is currently serving as Designated Pastor at St. Paul’s UCC in Exton. She has also worked as a hospice chaplain and a pediatric hospital chaplain. On appointment with the United Church Board for World Ministries, Linda served as Chaplain to Inanda Seminary (a girls’ residential school in a township outside Durban) and Lecturer in Theology at the University of Durban Westville in South Africa. 

At this time, Linda has completed her dissertation for her PhD in Religion and Social Change at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, where she is also an adjunct professor, teaching public theology and faith-based community organizing and ritual. She is currently writing a book on the power of people organizing together across lines of faith and race to create change in their communities. As part of her wider commitment to the UCC, Linda will serve as incoming Co-Chair of the national UCC Palestine-Israel Network, which affirms the dignity and sacredness of all people, stands against oppression and injustice, and works for peace with justice in Palestine and Israel. She writes biblical commentary for the “Liturgy That Matters” series of Enfleshed, and is on the Editorial Board of the Community Organizing Journal.    

Singing, photography, brewing kombucha, and writing are favorite pastimes. Linda’s husband, Zolani Noonan-Ngwane, is a professor at Haverford College in Cultural Anthropology. They live with their two children, Sonja and Rah, along with Maggie (Margaret Mead), the big, red Irish Doodle, and Boney M, the Dumpster Cat. Together they grow native and medicinal plants, make music, and spend as much time as they can with family in Washington Island, Wisconsin and South Africa. 

As we look forward to a faithful and spiritually inspiring future here at St. John’s, the Search and Call Team feel that Rev. Linda has the skills and experience to lead us now and into Who We Want to Become. Her Education and vocational background speak to the skills and experience needed to lead a congregation, of the size, diversity, interests, at St. John’s now and into the future. Her Community & Wider Church Involvement speak not only to leadership but to her interests and heart which align with St. John’s profile and vision. 

With Peace and Gratitude: 

The Search and Call Team of St. John’s UCC 

Search and Call Chair: Susan Fitzpatrick 

Sally Atkiss, Chriss Bodde, Steve Butz, Bill Cagney, Anne Kinsey, Janet Morton, Emilie Truscott, and Liz Vanderburg, 

Ex Officio Members: Mark Bruen and Deb Dayton 

For your reference, additional bio information for Rev. Linda Noonan is available on the Senior Pastor bulletin board outside of the St. John’s Library.