We're grateful for the opportunity to serve God and God's people, using our gifts to share Christ's love and grace.
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 has been the associate pastor at Westminster since the fall of 2017. She is responsible for the faith formation of Westminster’s youth (6-12th grades), as well as the congregation’s mission work. She also contributes to the planning and leadership of adult faith formation opportunities and weekly worship. 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 serves on the board of Princeton Seminary’s Women in Ministry Initiative and has previously served as the chair of Mission Presbytery’s Youth Connection Committee and as a member of its General Council. Ellen is wife to Tom and mother to young Albert. She enjoys playing the French horn at church in the Westminster Ensemble and in the community in the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble.
Charlotte Trafton started work at Westminster Presbyterian in 2017, after joining the congregation as a regular member in the late 90's. She was ordained in 2019 and serves at the Minister for Children and Families. 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 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, ordained in 2018, serves as a Minister of Spiritual Formation at WPC since 2020. Previously, she worked as a resident chaplain at Seton Family of Hospitals in Central Texas, offering compassion and spiritual support to those experiencing challenging times. With a Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and certification from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, Molly leads contemplative groups and teaching on spirituality within the church and the Central Texas community. Her community involvement includes offering spiritual direction to students at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and presenting centering prayer workshops as a commissioned presenter through Contemplative Outreach. At WPC she also serves as the diaconate advisor, where she collaborates closely with the deacons in the ministry of compassion, witness and service. At the heart of her ministry is a desire to help people to know and experience God’s love.
Jessica first started at Westminster Presbyterian Day School as an aide in 2003, and by the very next year had become a lead teacher. She started out teaching the Twos class and then moved to the Toddlers, where she worked for 15 years. She was also the director’s assistant for the previous three 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 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; DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN & YOUTH MUSIC
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. 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 and is on the music faculty at Austin Community College where she teaches Music Appreciation.
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 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, dancing, and spending time with her husband Levi and their two boys!
