Bill Clark

Pastor

Bill has been with Westminster since 2002.  He served pastorates in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Midland, Texas, prior to his arrival at Westminster.  Bill has recently served as the Moderator of Mission Presbytery and chair of Mission Presbytery’s General Council. He graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and Philosophy.  Bill holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.  Bill and his wife Jill have three young adult children: Chris, Annie, and Sam.  He is grateful to lead a caring and mission-minded congregation at Westminster.  Bill enjoys cheering for the Houston Astros; reading history, biographies, and good fiction; watching movies; and traveling.

Ellen Williams Hensle

Associate Pastor of Youth and Discipleship

Ellen has been the associate pastor at Westminster since the fall of 2017. Westminster’s 6^th through 12^th graders and the church’s outreach and service to others are the foci of her work. She is currently serving as co-chair of Mission Presbytery’s Youth Connection Committee and on the presbytery’s General Council. Before moving to Texas to work at WPC, Ellen earned an M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary and a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked in rare book and manuscript libraries and campus ministry before answering the call to seminary and ordained service in the PC(USA). Ellen enjoys playing the French horn in the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble and adventurous cooking projects with her husband Tom.

Charlotte Trafton

Minister for Children and Families

Charlotte Trafton is the Minister for Children and Families.  A graduate of Wake Forest University with a degree in elementary education, she did graduate work at the University of Texas Graduate School of Education, where she received an M.A. in curriculum and instruction in 2003. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Seminary in 2006. Charlotte has taught elementary students in public school and served as a volunteer in mission through the Presbyterian Church (USA), teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She is currently teaching kindergarten and serving as the school chaplain at the Good Shepherd Episcopal School. Charlotte and her husband, Michael, are the parents of Owen and Meredith. Her hobbies include reading young adult literature, biking and hiking with her kids, and cooking vegetarian. Charlotte is thrilled to be working in this part-time position with a congregation that seeks to walk beside its children fulfilling promises made at baptism to support and grow them in the Christian faith.

Lana Russell

Parish Associate

Lana joined the Westminster staff in 2016 and is so grateful to be serving alongside such a warm and faithful congregation. She graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees in 2003 and 2004. Prior to joining our staff, Lana served as Associate Pastor of Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and most recently was on staff at Austin Theological Seminary where she now serves on the Board of Trustees. She is a frequent West Coast flier where the Berry family lives – her daughter Emily, son-in-law Brian and granddaughters Eliza and Josephine. Her eastbound travels take her all the way across Mo Pac to Bryker Woods where son Russell, daughter-in-law Tawney, and grandchildren Hudson and Jackson Booth reside. She walks the trail, listens to podcasts, and enjoys a host of life-long friendships here and around the country.

Molly Hatchell

Parish Associate

Molly Hatchell began service at Westminster Presbyterian Church in February 2020 as Minister of Spiritual Formation. Following graduation from seminary, Molly completed a two-year spiritual formation certification program through Shalem Institute, specializing in contemplative group leadership.  She is also a commissioned  presenter of centering prayer workshops through Contemplative Outreach. Also, she works part-time at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a spiritual director.  Her first call was to the position of Resident Chaplain for the Seton Family of Hospitals in Central Texas, leading to ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in March of 2018.

Molly holds a Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Texas at Tyler. Molly and her husband, Mike, have two sons and three grandchildren. In addition to spending time with family and friends, Molly enjoys snorkeling in the Caribbean, stand up paddle boarding on Lake Austin, and birding anywhere she can spot interesting birds.

Jessica Johnson

Westminster Presbyterian Day School Director

Jessica first started at Westminster Presbyterian Day School as an aide in 2003, and by the very next year became a lead teacher. She started out teaching the Twos class and then moved to the Toddlers, where she has been for the last 12 years. She was also the director’s assistant for the previous 3 years. In addition to her work at WPDS, Jessica has been teaching Love and Logic parenting classes to the greater Austin community since 2012. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a Child Development Associate certification as well as a Director’s certificate from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Jessica enjoys traveling, cooking, and games. She is married to Chris Johnson, Registrar for the University of Texas at Austin MBA program. They have two children: Brooks and Addie, both graduates of WPDS. The Johnsons belong to All Saints’ Episcopal Church and live in Southwest Austin.

Rick Colvin

Director of Music

Rick has been Westminster’s music program director since 1989.  During the previous 19 years, he was cantor and bass section leader for the choir at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, also serving as that church’s interim music director.  A native of Lubbock, Texas, Rick sang in the youth choir of that city’s First Methodist Church and was first tuba in the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra.  He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Tech in music education and then headed to Austin to pursue a doctorate in musical arts.  After one year as the principal tuba for the Austin Symphony Orchestra, he concluded that choral music was his calling.  He met his wife Catherine, now Westminster’s associate music coordinator, on a choral tour in 1978.  Catherine already had two children who readily accepted Rick into their family.  In addition to music, Rick’s favorite hobby is photography.

Catherine Colvin

Associate Music Coordinator

Catherine attended The University of Texas, majored in English, and earned a teaching certificate in English and social studies.  The Baytown native sang in several college choral groups and worked with noted UT music professor Morris Beachy.  For eight years, she was a paid soloist at St. David’s Episcopal Church and spent two years as a soloist at All Saints Episcopal Church as well.  She followed husband Rick Colvin to Westminster, where she has been largely responsible for selecting the hymns sung each week at the 8:30 a.m. church service.  A retired English teacher, Catherine’s hobbies include “listening to books on tape” and cooking.

Sheryl Stack

Organist

Sheryl joined the staff at WPC in January of 2022. She has played the piano her whole life and—being a “PK” (Preacher’s Kid)—has also been a lifelong church musician. She graduated from Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and came to Austin in 1986 for graduate school at The University of Texas. She has worked as Music Director, Pianist/ Organist, and Music Teacher at a number of area churches and private schools ever since. Sheryl completed her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance (1988) and a second MM in Collaborative Piano (2011), both at UT. In addition to her church work, Sheryl is active throughout the area as a professional collaborative pianist/accompanist, playing recitals, competitions, auditions, and concerts with instrumentalists and vocalists; she is on the music faculty at Austin Community College where she teaches Music Appreciation; and she maintains a private teaching studio of piano and organ students. She enjoys starting and building new music groups, so keep an eye out for something that appeals to you! Sheryl has a 25 year old daughter, Margaux—an Austin original, and two small dogs, a Shih Tsu, Phoenix, and an Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua mix (an Iggy), Fabio.

Michelle Elley

Church Accountant

Michelle joined the WPC staff in October 2017.  Michelle is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has spent fourteen years working in public and private accounting in Austin.  Most recently she was an adjunct professor of accounting at St. Edward’s University.  Michelle and her husband, Troy, have been married since 2007.  They have two children, Hayden and Leah.  Michelle enjoys reading, gardening, and watching her kids in sports.

Ray Chairez

Church Sexton

Ray Chairez has been our sexton since 2004.  We count on Ray to look after our physical property, prepare areas for special events, and all janitorial matters.  Ray thoroughly enjoys baseball, golf, and basketball.

Aimee Karr

Church Administrator

Aimee joined the WPC staff in June of 2022. She is a former elementary school teacher and a graduate of Texas State University.  She has fifteen years of experience in education and publishing. Prior to joining the WPC staff, Aimee worked as a content writer for educational publishers. Aimee has lived in Austin since 1999 and enjoys outdoor patios, Lindy hop and swing dancing, and spending time with her husband Levi and their two boys, Logan and L.J.