St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, NY

Born into a long-standing Lutheran family in Eric, Pennsylania, our Pastor comes to us with a firm foundation of faith that she willingly shares with all who come into conatct with her. After years of service to her church as a layperson, our Pastor heard God's call to enter seminary and to prepare for the ordained ministry. She began her studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1984. Upon completion of her studies, she received her Master of Divinity Degree in May, 1989. Pastor Nebrasky was ordained into a ministry or Word and Sacrament on June 18, 1991.

This congregation was led by God's spirit to call Pastor Nebrasky as our Pastor in 2000 after we experienced a brief vacancy. Pastor had joyfully served as our interim pastor during this time, and our congregation was uplifted by her gifts. Sensing a need for an addition to the ministries of St. James, Pastor introduced the bi-monthly Service of the Word for Healing. To enhance the intensely profound season of Lent, Pastor introduced the Ash Wednesday Service-complete with the imposition of ashes-into our worship schedule. Once again, we are participating in joint Holy Week Services in order to walk more closely with our Lord and to experience what it means to answer Jesus' call to "take up your cross and follow me." All of these most welcome additions firmly resound Pastor's belief in Christians being ministered to in body, mind, and spirit. For the past several years, our Pastor has also served as Dean of our conference of ELCA churches in this section of Sourth Shore Brooklyn. As Dean, our Pastor keeps our conference up to date on the work the larger church is doing in the Metropolital New York area. Pastor Nebrasky also serves this community as the Protestant Chaplain of the Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department.

Sharing her passion for life is her husband of 36 years, Ira and their adult daughter, Suzanne. Pastor's hobbies include reading, doing needlepoint, counted cross stitch, playing with her two dogs, baking, and doing crossword puzzles. She is hardly ever seen without a book or some wonderfule project at hand. As part of the outreach of this congregation, Pastor Nebrasky has woven her interest in yoga into a weekly class offered to the neighborhood people here at St. James.