Meet our Speakers: Bishop Julie Schneider-Thomas

Michigan has been my home since birth and I have been blessed by a number of congregations in our synod that have served as “home” in this time: Saron, St. Joseph; St. Thomas, Cheboygan; Zion, Comstock Park and Hope, Rockford. I attended Adrian College where I studied Philosophy/Religion and German. While I was there I met my husband Bryan Schneider-Thomas, who also happened to be a Philosophy/Religion major! Pastor Bryan serves as an Interim Pastor in our synod and is currently with Grace, Lansing. We have been married 32 years and have one daughter, Katie, who will be working this coming school year as an English Language Teaching Assistant at a teacher’s college in Innsbruck.

In 1995 I graduated from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, and shortly after began serving Zion Lutheran Church in Comstock Park, where I served up until a month ago. Along the way, I was called to serve a second congregation, Hope Lutheran Church in Rockford. Being a parish pastor has been a joy and a blessing.

In my free time I like to travel, hike, garden, practice Tae Kwon Do and try to catch the northern lights.