Pastor

The Reverend Leah Lyman Waldron, Pastor

Email Leah here or call her at 781.281.9523. Her days off are Friday and Saturday but she will respond to pastoral emergencies at any time; phone call or text is best.

It is our joy to have the Reverend Leah Lyman Waldron as our settled pastor.  Leah began her ministry with us on in August 2017, leading us after years of service to the church by our pastor the Reverend William Albright and our interim pastor the Reverend Jill Small.

We believe Leah demonstrates the qualities the members and friends of PACC want in a pastor: an excellent preacher, a caring and devoted minister to provide pastoral care, and a pastor who challenges us to care both for ourselves and for those beyond our walls. Her priorities in ministry are pastoral care that helps people feel God’s loving presence; preaching that makes scripture come alive and illustrates how we might live out God’s call in our daily lives; and equipping the faith community she serves to discern how the Spirit is calling us to make God’s love tangible in this world.

Leah grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago and lived in the Boston area when she attended Wellesley College, graduating in 2006. During a 10-year sojourn in the South, she graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University with a Master of Divinity in 2012 and was ordained by the UCC in 2013.

Leah’s ministerial and vocational experiences are varied. After college, she worked for the UCC Partners in Ministry at Back Bay Mission, helping organize short-term mission trips to the Gulf Coast after hurricane Katrina. She has served in an immigration clinic and women’s support group, and she created and ran a day program for people experiencing homelessness as a member of AmeriCorps in Mississippi. She was also a pediatric chaplain resident at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In 2010, Leah and her husband, Chris Lyman Waldron, who is also an ordained UCC minister, founded Praxis UCC, a creative, welcoming worship community committed to service and justice. In 2015, Praxis UCC merged with Decatur UCC, where Leah and Chris continued to preach and provide pastoral care. During that time, she also worked as the executive administrative assistant at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.

A lover of books and thrift shopping, Leah also enjoys walking and dips in Walden Pond all year round.

Leah’s husband Chris is a native New Englander and Red Sox fan. He currently serves as an interim minister in the area and loves playing guitar in his spare time.

Their daughter Davie and son Gabriel bring joy, energy, and creativity to their lives, while their cat Cleo adds snuggles and meows. The whole family loves to be outside, read, and dance together.