Rev. Christina Williams, Pastor

The Rev. Christina Williams originally hails from upstate New York, but lived in the Boston area and its environs for many years—working and raising her daughter.  After discovering a passion for ministry at her local church, she attended Andover Newton Theological School.  Most recently she was the Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Hadley, Massachusetts. She served on the Hampshire Association Executive Committee and she co-founded and led an association-wide youth group, which grew from two participating churches to six.  Prior to Hadley, Christina was a street chaplain with Chaplains on the Way in Waltham, Mass., which offers the ministry of companioning to those experiencing poverty and homelessness.  To stay grounded in her faith, her daily spiritual practices include meditation, lectio divina, and examen.  Rev. Christina is the proud parent of Julia, who graduated from Simmons University in Boston and is now working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as an administrative assistant. Besides church, Christina’s happy place is being at the ocean and hiking in the woods. She enjoys traveling, playing outdoors, reading, and hanging out with friends and family in her spare time.

“My sense of call began as a small child when I profoundly felt God’s presence in my life even though my family did not go to church. By the time I was nine years old, I had a deep yearning to know more about God and asked my father if we could attend church – not for a Sunday here or there, but every Sunday. The evangelical church became the central focus of my young life and I immersed myself in all sorts of church activities. I dedicated myself to the Christian life until I went to college. As a young adult, I struggled with questions about God, Jesus, faith and I drifted away from the church. My developing theology was at odds with the church I grew up in, and it took a long time to reconcile that and find a new church home. Nevertheless, I was keenly aware God’s still-small voice continued to speak to me. During my time away from the church I still yearned to know God on a deeper level so I began daily meditation. From the very first moment I sat down to meditate on the prayer of Saint Francis, my inner life with God shifted. Daily prayer and meditation set off a chain reaction that called me to live my faith more actively. My sense of call into ministry and to serve others is born out of an ardent passion to help others be nourished, freed and transformed by the living waters of God through the ministry of Christ in the same way I was. I feel blessed that my call has been affirmed all along the way by the churches and other ministries I have served.”