Joan Beck first came to Holden for Nancy Winder’s ordination as Village pastor in 1971. She has returned many times, first with her daughters who are now adults—one heading for medical school and the other in a massage program—and lately with the love of her life, second husband John Beck.
Joan is a lifelong Lutheran, beginning in the Wisconsin Synod and now in the ELCA, with stops along the way in the Missouri Synod, ALC, and LCA, and dissenting in place whenever necessary. She has served Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Portland, OR, since 1995. Joan’s last sabbatical was in Atlanta studying Old Testament with Walter Brueggemann and Kathleen O’Connor. On her next sabbatical, she would like to relearn poetry writing.