Our Staff

Stella Burkhalter

Executive Pastor

Office: 512-250-6017 x 275

Rev. Stella Burkhalter has been a United Methodist pastor in the Austin area for over 10 years and has worked in diverse settings, including a suburban church where she grew a contemporary service, led a neighborhood church with an exploding feeding ministry, and a small historic church where she has helped rebuild an identity in a booming community.

Stella was born and raised in a faith-filled home on a ranch just on the edge of Laredo, Texas. She is the youngest of 10 children, which gives her lots of good stories. Stella graduated from St. Augustine High School and The University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a BS with honors in Advertising from the School of Communication.  She worked in the marketing and non-profit world, and was as a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, engaging in free-lance advertising and volunteer church work.

Stella attended Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where she earned a Master of Divinity degree in 2010. She was ordained in the United Methodist Church and has served as pastor at Oak Hill and Covenant United Methodist Churches in Austin, Texas, and Kyle United Methodist Church.

Stella loves to write and preach.  She produced a weekly blog for several years and recently authored of the book, Living Between Alpha and Omega, Praying the Greek Alphabet in Uncertain Times. During the pandemic, she produced a series of virtual pilgrimage videos on Facebook and a year-long guided Bible reading series called The Bible in 40 Words.  Blogs and videos can be found at www.pastorstella.net.

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