Iao United Church of Christ Welcomes  Rev. Lauren Buck Medeiros as their Called and Settled Pastor

After almost 3 years we are excited to welcome our settled pastor  the Rev. Lauren Buck. She joins us from  O’ahu where she recently completed 28 years as a chaplain at Punahou School. She was raised in the islands of Micronesia (Kosraean was her first language) and has served UCC, Presbyterian and Disciples of Christ churches in Texas, Massachusetts and Hawai’i. She is mother to two red-heads:

Christopher, a graduate of Yale University currently living and working in Ecuador; and Kalia, a graduate of the University of Michigan currently living and working in New York City.

Pastor Lauren earned her undergraduate (music education) degree from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma ’80; a master’s (theology) from Perkins School of Theology (Southern Methodist University) in Dallas, Texas ’87; and a master’s (in educational leadership) from The University of Hawai’i, Mānoa ’11. Ordained by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1990, and with standing in the United Church of Christ since that time, her training and experience are noteworthy.

Our search committee was especially drawn to her joyful energy, her creative ideas for worship, faith and community building, her skills in music, her delight in youth and deep aloha for Micronesians, and her absolute commitment to the extravagant welcome of God in the church and the world.