Our Staff and the Services They Provide

The staff of Federated Church strives to offer consistent administrative support, high-quality coaching, responsive ministry development, and specialized expertise to the church as a whole as it pursues its mission. To acquire their help, feel free to download one of the following resources or contact them through the church office at 765-463-5564.

Rev. Jon Carlstrom
Interim Minister
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      Greetings!  My name is Jon Carlstrom and I will be serving as your transitional pastor beginning July 10.  My wife is Jan and she will be joining me as we worship with you on Sundays and whenever possible.  She continues to work part-time in a medical office in Columbus but loves to be involved in the church.  I will be in West Lafayette five days per week including Sundays.
      I have served in pastoral ministry for more than forty years.  In 2007 I retired from First Baptist Church of Columbus, Indiana, after ten years of ministry.  Since that time I have committed myself to a transitional or an intentional interim ministry and I have served two congregations.  One congregation was a Christian Church, Disciples of Christ and the other was an American Baptist congregation.  I am deeply committed to each person's relationship to God, to congregational ministry and to God's purposes as mission in the world.
      My hope and prayer is that we will work together to build the Body of Christ, develop a vision for ministry as you prepare for a new pastor, define and redefine the role of the church in a changing culture and commit ourselves to the "new thing" God will be doing in our midst.

Susan Thomas
Director of
Children's Ministries

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      I was born and raised in West Lafayette, IN and attended West Lafayette Schools and Purdue University.  Children and their well being have always been important to me.  From a young age I provided child care for neighbors and church members, taught Sunday school, worked with youth groups and directed many Vacation Bible School programs, so I felt prepared for the challenge of this position in our church family.
      My Grandfather, Paul E. Million Sr., was my best friend and mentor as a child.  He was a Disciples of Christ Minister for many years.  I felt his influence and God's call to pursue my ministry license, and to work with Children.
      I have enjoyed working with others to start a new worship center for our children where we hold Worship & Wonder.  Our F.I.S.H. group (3rd-6th graders) is fun and has a beautiful new room to create, praise, and worship God in.  Come join us in spreading the good news of God's love while we nurture His and our most blessed gift, the children.

Dan Hartley
Administrative Assistant & Financial Secretary
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      After 37 years of doing "geeky" stuff at Purdue University, a new calling summoned me to the best "job" that anyone could be blessed to enjoy. 
      Ensconced in a glass-walled office (please don't throw stones!), you can witness this "church secretary's" daily ritual of fun with finances, answering the phone and email, keeping the calendar from exploding with multiple concurrent events, preparing our weekly worship bulletins, keeping our computer systems running, editing videos, maintaining our website, "other duties as assigned" and otherwise having a blast.
      Miscellaneous tidbits:  Oldest of eight children, baptized by a Disciples of Christ congregation at age 12, recipient of the God and Country award (fellow Scouts will know this one), sings way better than he ever played the bass clarinet in middle school, came to Purdue as a Physics Honors student in 1969 and sang in the Varsity Glee Club under Al Stewart's direction, was irritated upon his first visit to Federated Church 25-odd years ago because they serve communion only on the first Sunday of the month (he eventually got over it), loves to cook, enjoys knotty problems, met wife Celia on a study trip to Strasbourg, France 39 years ago, one son (Christopher, Navy veteran, now attending college in Indianapolis), and one daughter (Catharine, Purdue graduate, now an engineer in the Chicago area).
      If the Lord is willing, this will be my final earthly journey on the way to the Great Reunion.  I can't wait.  How about you?

Judy Schreiner
Office Assistant
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      Too shy to write her own, Judy must suffer the indignity of an unauthorized third-party's attempt at a brief biographical sketch.
      Judy helps keep the heat off of the Administrative Assistant by intercepting and entertaining visitors and phone calls, keeps our membership/visitor records up to date, plays a critical role in our Care Council ministry, and serves as Federated's Wedding Coordinator.
      The short version is simply that "Judy is AWESOME!"  We'll see if this encourages her to write something beautiful about herself to replace this pitifully-lacking prose.  :-)