Nicole Havelka

Rev. Nicole Havelka, Curator for Youth and Young Adult Ministries, has a long history of serving both local churches and the wider church in the area of youth ministry and faith formation. She has trained and coached local church leaders in many settings of the UCC. She served first as the Associate Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the Iowa Conference UCC. Most recently she served as an Area Minister in the Michigan Conference. While in that role, she also worked as a coach and trainer specializing in youth ministry for the Center for Progressive Renewal, as an associate consultant with Vibrant Faith Ministries and as the Minister for Digital Programs with Extravagance UCC (an online ministry that is now be a part of the Faith Formation Team). She also currently serves half-time as the Minister for Resourcing, Networking and Creativity in the Ohio Conference UCC. She has been excited to learn about the many ways that UCC conferences and the national setting can more intentionally partner so as to provide more inspiring resources to local churches.

Nicole firmly believes that the church is not dying, it is being reborn. That belief has been embodied in her work through the many digital and in-person spaces in which she has gathered local and wider church leaders in order to spark new ideas, share best practices and support each other while discerning and implementing God’s new vision for the church.

Prior to coming to wider church work, Nicole had a variety of ministry and non-ministry professional experiences including print journalism, an administrator with a brokerage firm, a local church youth leader, an assistant director of a seminary-based youth program and a chaplain to at-risk youth.

In her “spare time,” Nicole, a certified yoga instructor, spends as much time on her mat as possible. An extension of that practice, she swims, runs and bikes to prepare for competing in triathlons. She also loves to cook for friends, travel and watch as many Oscar-nominated movies as possible.