Pastor Linda was born and reared in Kingsport, Tennessee.  After graduating from Dobyns Bennet High School she went to Centre College in Danville, Kentucky where she met and married her first husband.  The Army relocated them to Berlin West Germany where she had her son Adam.  On returning to the states she lived in Ohio and then California where she and her husband divorced.

She then attended DeAnza Community College and then San Jose state University Where she graduated with a degree in Psychology.    She then enrolled a Santa Clara University to get a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and a license in Marriage and Family Therapy.  Linda met and married her current husband Jack.  He worked at Apple and she had a private practice.

They moved to Half Moon Bay and began attending Coastside Lutheran Church.  What drew them to the ELCA was the focus on grace and the beauty of the liturgy and the invitation to the table each week.   The pastor at Coastside encouraged them to follow a dream to go to seminary and in 1999 they left jobs and CA and moved to Asheville to pursue that dream.  Pastor David Martin at St. Mark’s invited them to consider Lutheran Southern seminary in Columbia and in 2002, following a sudden and severe illness for Jack which left as mysteriously as it came, they did just that.  In 2006 they graduated with MDiv. Degrees and were ordained in 2007.  Pastor Linda and her husband served at Christ’s Church  Stanley, NC for 5 years and then Agape fellowship in Gastonia.  In 2015 they returned to Asheville where Pastor Linda joined the staff as Caring Ministries Pastor.

Due to the pandemic and a recent diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis Pastor Linda works from home.  When able she is available for phone counseling or on-line contact.  She prays for you daily and is grateful that she can still serve this grace-filled community.

Contact Information

Phone: 828.253.0043

Email: pastorlinda@stmarkslutheran.net