Faith Presbyterian welcomes new pastor

FINDLAY — A new pastor will take to the pulpit at Faith Presbyterian Church on Sunday. It's not a career that the Rev. Elizabeth Hadler considered initially as she was busy teaching math and coaching tennis. But things took a detour in 1992 when Hadler and her husband, Gary, took a two-week mission trip to Brazil to repair a home for street children. "We were in Koxville, Iowa and had a pastor visit from Londrina, Brazil, and he was just full of the holy spirit," she said. "He didn't speak the language very well, but it didn't matter. He just really inspired us." In August, the couple went on a mission trip to Londrina with another adult and five youths to start building the home. Hadler said the children's stories were heartwrenching. When they returned home and shared their slides, three people in the same day asked Hadler if she'd ever thought about going into the ministry. "And I realized that I had been thinking about it, but I just had been denying it because I loved my coaching and my teaching. So that's when I really said, 'OK, God, I'll follow and see what happens,'" she recalled. She was ordained in the United Methodist Church as a deacon in 1996 and an elder in 2002. "But all of it I consider a ministry whether it be as a pastor, as a coach, as a mom, as a teacher or whatever. I try to fulfill that, don't always succeed," she said. Hadler grew up on a farm just outside Knoxville, Iowa, the youngest of four children. She played five different sports in high school and also the guitar and French horn. She was also in a Gospel singing group at one point with two of her siblings and three of their cousins. "The farms were up against each other so we were like brothers and sisters. The group was called The Grandkids because we all had the same grandparents. That was a real joy," she said. One summer they traveled all over Iowa and led worship services. They also had the opportunity at the end of that summer to go to California where their pianist had family. She said they sang at churches there and also sang at Disney Land. After high school, Hadler attended the University of Missouri-Rolla on a basketball scholarship. She also met her future husband who studying to become a mechanical engineer. They married their senior year. In 1988, Hadler graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics. She taught math and coached while also working on a master's degree from Iowa State University majoring in professional studies in higher education. Gary Hadler took a job with 3M. "We moved about every two years for awhile with the company, not because we had to but because it was a better opportunity for him," she explained. When she felt called to a spiritual ministry, they were living in Knoxville, Iowa and the closest seminary was three hours away in Kansas City. "I said, well, that's a road block. Then Gary had the opportunity to move to Menomonie, Wisconsin with 3M which was only an hour away from St. Paul (Seminary)," she said. She started at the seminary in 1993, about the same time the couple began having children. "I didn't go full-time because I was commuting an hour. We didn't move to St. Paul until my last year which was closer, but I had three kids before I was out of seminary," Hadler said. She earned a master of divinity degree at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Since then, she has ministered at United Methodist and Lutheran churches in Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. Her last ministry was with the Living Word Lutheran Church in Medina where she served from 2017-23. Hadler said more of the churches she's served most recently have been smaller. "And they feel like the Upper Room with Jesus and his disciples. There's nothing wrong with the big churches, but at this point in my life, it's where I feel God calling me to try and grow the church, but not just for numbers, but for the gospel to be spread," she said. She said the congregation at Faith Presbyterian is small, but members are filled with hope and the holy spirit. Since coming to Findlay about a year ago, Hadler has become the assistant women's tennis coach at the University of Findlay and head teaching pro at the Findlay YMCA. She has also been preaching at EEC churches in North Baltimore and McComb, and teaching math, her first degree. The couple have been married 35 years and have six children who live throughout the United States including Ohio, San Diego, South Dakota, Alaska and Indiana. A daughter, Emily, is a senior physical therapy major at UF, where she also plays tennis. For the 2022-23 season, she was rated 20th in the nation at doubles, 1st team all GMAC and cited by two organizations for academic achievement. Gary retired from 3M in Medina at the end of December. Services are at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. Having moved from Norcrest Street where it was Norcrest Presbyterian Church, the church, now Faith Presbyterian, meets at the Wilkens Center for Christian Living, 700 E. Melrose Ave.