Photo by Bethany Joy Collins

Sandy Winter was honorably retired on July 1, 2006. At a ceremony in her honor on June 25, 2006, Sandy was named Pastor Emerita. She is the first UPC minister to receive this honor. Although her official duties with UPC have been concluded, this honor recognizes that she will always been an important member of the UPC family. Meanwhile, UPC is currently in the process of calling a new pastor.

Sandy served the Presbyterian community since 1962, when she worked as a church educator for Central Presbyterian in Chattanooga, TN.  Since then, she served as a minister in California and in Alabama.  She earned her Doctorate of Ministry from the San Francisco Theological Seminary, where she studied with a number of Korean women, leading to her spending five weeks in Seoul, Korea.  Her dissertation project, for which she earned an award for outstanding work, was titled, "An Unsung Lament:  The Suffering of Korean Women Taken for Military Sexual Slavery During World War II."    Whether it be our neighbors who need food to survive from one day to the next, people living with HIV/AIDS, persons who are excluded from full welcome in the life of the church, or those suffering half a world away in Korea, Sandy, the students and members of the congregation show the love and justice of Jesus Christ.

Following her retirement, Sandy moved to Chattanooga, Tennesse, to be closer to her family. Her sons David and Ricky and daughter-in-law, Robin and grandchildren Richard, William, and Charlie live in Chattanooga. Sandy enjoys swimming, having swam in the Lake Lurleen Trialthalon. Sandy loves to read and teach about women in the Bible and feminist theology.