Pastor Traci Hardell

Hello! My name is Traci Hardell and I am the Pastor at Mountain of Faith Lutheran Church. I am a long-time believer and a short-time pastor.  I started out as the Interim Pastor here in February of 2022 and became the permanent pastor in February 2023. This is my first pastoral call and I am in the process of completing my Master of Divinity Degree.

I have been a nurse for 38 years and I thought that I would finish out my working years in that profession. I felt God’s calling to nursing and I have worked in many areas from bedside nursing and teaching through senior administration. My husband and I thought our plan was set. Then God let me know that he had other plans! That was quite a surprise for my husband and I! But after all of the blessings the Lord has given us, how could I say no? So I enrolled in seminary.

Along the way I came to Mountain of Faith to hear our former pastor, Rick, preach. When I walked in to the church, I really felt right at home. In the back of my mind I thought that somewhere down the road I might want to do an internship here toward the end of my seminary program.

Later that year, Rick’s mother fell ill and, unfortunately, passed away. At first, the congregation needed someone to help fill in with preaching. I was definitely a newbie and not quite sure I was up to the task. After praying and talking with Rick and the congregation president, Steve. I decided that if the congregation needed help and the Lord was agreeable, I would do my best. As time went on, the Lord made it clear that he wanted me to play some role with this congregation moving forward.

As the Church Council and I were trying to see how we could work together in proclaiming God’s Word, the Lord brushed away every obstacle. You could just see Him clearing the path! In the end we decided that I would serve as the part-time interim pastor while moving to a part-time nursing position and also completing my year-long Internship for seminary. Life was quite busy but so many wonderful things were happening already!

After my internship, the Council and congregation and I all decided that I was a good fit here and I became the part-time permanent pastor. This past Spring (May 2024), I finally decided that two part-time jobs and seminary were a bit much and I retired from a nursing case management position with a school district. I am now hoping to focus more on my ministry, seminary, and my family.

I have been married to my wonderful husband, Clark for 31 years and we have an incredible son Jason who is 29. We are very blessed that he has chosen to stay in Utah and has a house in Salt Lake. Clark and I live in Sandy, and no, I don’t mind the commute at all. It is a really pretty drive.

We are doing some exciting things at Mountain of Faith like drive-thru prayer, offering Vacation Bible School, delivering Easter basket invitations to spread God’s word and much more. We are small but mighty and a very devoted congregation! I hope that you will take time to come and worship with us and see what a welcoming community you will encounter.

Grace and peace to you,
Pastor Traci