The Rev. Ashley Love Skrabec

How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
      I awake, and I am still with you.           Psalm 139:17-18  

On November 1, 2019 The Rev. Ashley Love Skrabec became the 27th Called Pastor of First Presbyterian Church.

Ashley was born and raised in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.  

Prior to pursuing a call to ordained ministry with the Presbyterian church, Ashley worked in emergency shelters with youth and domestic violence survivors. She’s a longtime youth ministry volunteer, working with teenagers from her college days and continuing through seminary.  She is constantly in awe of the justice and mercy of Jesus Christ and the opportunity we have to be instruments of the love and healing we have received.

She received her trainings for ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary (MDiv. September 2017) and did her Clinical Pastoral Education (chaplain training) at Cedars-Sinai Hospital and Children’s Hospital, both in Los Angeles.  Ashley’s seminary internship was completed at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, where she focused on multicultural/bilingual ministry, adult education, and worship leadership.

Now a proud Stocktonian, Ashley loves exploring the area with her husband, Chris, and their two dogs Duncan and Annie.  Some of her favorite activities include walking her dogs along the gorgeous delta, Stockton Ports games, Calaveras Big Trees State Park (where she and Chris got married), yoga at local studios, exploring Stockton's delicious food scene, and seeing live music around town.  At church, Ashley loves helping to run our twice monthly food pantry and getting to work with our amazing staff and church family.