The Rev. Martha S. Nordt, “Pastor Martha,” was called to ministry in Nebraska in 2003. Pastor Martha followed this call with a strong conviction that God had called her to “do a new thing” in this place. At the time she had little idea, that the new thing would be to lead an emerging church. “Being the pastor of The Way of Grace Fellowship is a great joy. I have come to understand the theological meaning of “church” in a way I never did before,” remarks Pastor Martha.
Until moving to Nebraska, Pastor Martha lived all of her life in and around New York City. She holds degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University, The New School for Social Research, Columbia University, and a Master of Divinity from Yale. Prior to entering the ministry, Pastor Martha worked as a psychologist for many years in a New York City hospital. Pastor Martha adopted two children from the foster care system in New York. Her daughters are now grown and she has three grandchildren.
Pastor Martha has spent her life being deeply concerned and committed to helping those in need and to being inclusive of those often on the margins of society. She recalls growing up in a home that practiced radical hospitality. Her parents were actively involved in civil rights and fighting for racial integration. “I learned at my parents knee, that we are all God’s children.” When she was a senior in high school she went on a mission trip to rural West Virginia and Kentucky and painted houses for people living there in terrible poverty. “The trip changed my life, and it was then that I knew I would someday be in ministry.”
There have been many ups and downs, joys and struggles in Pastor Martha’s life. She is convinced that it is only by the power of God working in and through her that she has accomplished the things she has done. “God has transformed my life,” she says, “and it is my joy and confidence in this, God’s transforming grace, that it is my privilege to share with the people of The Way of Grace Fellowship.
