Kari Swanson

I am a proud Iowan, cat mother, owner of too many books, doer of meditative spiritual practices, amateur crafter, singer, daughter, sister, and soon to be wife. Born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, I’ve relished magical Midwest summers with my family at Lake Okoboji, eating carrots and rhubarb out of my grandparent’s garden, and participating in every form of music I could. I attended Wheaton College for my Bachelor’s of Music in Voice with a Minor in Bible and Theology. It was there that I discovered my love of the Bible, seeking God’s presence in daily life, and “weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice” in community.

I graduated with my Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2025 while interning at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City and Penn Medicine Princeton Health as a hospital chaplain. After a summer pastoral residency with Park Ridge Presbyterian Church in Chicagoland, I moved to Central Texas to complete a year-long hospital chaplaincy residency at a Level 1 Trauma Center. This experience continues to shape me into a better listener, a better pastor, and a better advocate for those who are suffering and at the margins.

I love the church and believe in the power of eating bread and drinking wine with friends — that is where Jesus is known. Yet even more, I see God at work in gyms with folding chairs, holding the hands of cancer patients in the infusion center, singing songs with friends, hiking the Sawtooth Mountains, dancing out of pews in Kenya, and hearing the stories of God from immigrant and refugee neighbors. I am inspired by theologians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dirk Smit, Julian of Norwich, James Cone, Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail, my dad, and old church ladies.