News photo by Kayla Wikaryasz On Friday, Rev. Laura Hoffman is seen standing next to a stained glass window in the First Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)’s chapel. Hoffman led her first Sunday service as settled pastor yesterday.

ALPENA — First Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) in Alpena announced the arrival of its new settled pastor, Rev. Laura Hoffman, this month. She is the congregation’s first female pastor.

Her first time leading Sunday service at UCC was yesterday.

Hoffman said that it is not uncommon for the UCC denomination to have female pastors as opposed to other denominations such as Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, et cetera.

“I grew up Southern Baptist which has a very similar approach to women in history,” she said. “You can’t be one.”

“If you’re looking at it from the perspective as a Christian, the bottom line for me is following Christ,” she added. “Christ is the one that said, there’s neither male nor female. Or, our sons and daughters will prophesy. He was very inclusive … to me, I’m just very thankful that that inclusivity includes me.”

Hoffman said that her journey from a preacher’s daughter to pastor in her own right has been a winding road. She said her spiritual journey began by getting a counseling degree through a seminary school to enhance her teaching abilities.

“Every kid in the school who had struggles would wind up coming to talk with me,” she said. “I felt like I wanted to equip myself to be a better teacher. That’s really how this journey all began.”

Hoffman said she received her counseling degree from a seminary school in Louisville, Kentucky and did not return to teaching afterwards. Instead, she began a career in providing counseling and later worked in the chaplaincy field.

She said she’s been a chaplain since 1994.

Most recently, she has served as the MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena Spiritual Care Program Manager, offering spiritual guidance to patients.

“I really found that to be a wonderful place of service for me and a wonderful industry for me,” she added.

Hoffman’s husband is also a pastor and she said that every time the couple moved, she had an “identity crisis.”

“Every time he took a new call, I had an identity crisis,” she said. “And try to figure out ‘How does what I bring to this, fit in this place?’ In some places, I fit on the church staff. I would be the youth and children’s pastor or I was the associate pastor.”

She said that from 1998 to 2005 she worked as a treatment supervisor at Hope House, which was an adolescent treatment program for adolescent girls. At that time she also worked in private practice, offering counseling services.

“I’ve done all kinds of stuff … I never know what the next door’s going to be,” Hoffman added.

Hoffman explained that she never saw herself as a pastor, though she had been invited to lead Sunday service at UCC in Alpena on various occasions since 2023. She said that she had been approached previously about applying to take on the “settled pastor” role, though she was hesitant due to her chaplain role and her perception of females in church leadership.

“Every Sunday somebody would say, ‘We’re looking for a pastor. You should apply.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s sweet…’ I’m a female. They don’t really want a female pastor,” she said. “I was so busy at the hospital building this spiritual care program there … I was not going to leave.”

She said this past fall she was approached again about applying.

“I don’t know why it hit me differently at that time,” she said.

Hoffman said she had accomplished what she wanted to accomplish in her role as chaplain with MyMichigan Health allowing her the space to consider being UCC’s pastor.

One of her goals for UCC in Alpena is to build the congregation back to where it was before COVID-19.

“We shut churches down,” she said. “And some people never came back. So congregations that used to be more robust have dwindled. That’s true here.”

She also noted the necessity to invite young people into the congregation to ensure its longevity. 


“If you look at our congregation right now, we’re an older congregation,” she said. “So my hope, my passion, is to really find ways to reach out to the community as a whole, to let them know we’re here.”

She said that UCC in Alpena is often overlooked, even by locals who have lived in the community their entire lives.

“I sort of want to help us rebrand ourselves to be a church that is truly in the city of Alpena for good, meaning permanently here, meaning for the good of this community, meaning on behalf of the good shepherd,” she said. “We’re here for good.” 


“I want to find ways to really reach out to families, to younger people, because any organization, whether it’s a church or any other organization, your longevity depends on having younger people coming along, recognizing the importance of what you do and wanting to be a part of it,” she added.” “That, to me, is my biggest job right now.”

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.