By Conrad Wesselhoeft

"Well, it's official!" said Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski, at the end of Saturday's service installing her as Fauntleroy UCC Church's new senior pastor. "It's hard to get rid of me now."

Bilinski was installed by a delegation of clergy from the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ. About 200 church members attended the ceremony.

Bilinski has served as Fauntleroy's "unofficial" senior pastor for about a year. She becomes the twelfth person in the church's 108-year history to hold the senior leadership role. It was most recently held by Rev. David Kratz, who retired in 2013 after 27 years as senior pastor.

"We're delighted to welcome Fauntleroy's new pastor," said Eric Wetzel, a church member who headed the search committee. "We're excited to welcome a great leader to our community."

The 300-member Fauntleroy UCC Church abides by the credo: "Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here."

Bilinski is an ordained minister with a Master of Divinity Degree from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Before coming to Fauntleroy, she served as co-pastor of St. Peter’s UCC Church in Washington, MO, and as acting pastor of Ebenezer “Stone Church” UCC in Gerald, MO.

She and her husband, Jaime, have a daughter, Naomi.