Lyn Nixon
Biography
Rev. Dr. Lyn Nixon is a retired Covenant pastor and a scholar whose vocation spans congregational ministry and academic discipleship. She grew up in a Congregational church where women’s leadership was a normal part of church life. This was embodied by Rev. Anne Pearse Smith, who gave Lyn her first Bible when she was in third grade. Though her own call surfaced much later, seeing clergywomen early in her life made the full participation of women feel customary.
Initially, Lyn experienced church as more academic than spiritual formation, but a childhood encounter with prayer changed that. At age nine, Lyn asked God to heal her grandfather after his heart attack, promising to attend church without complaint if he survived. Her grandfather lived, and Lyn kept her word, engaging in church with her full attention. This became the doorway to a mature faith and understanding of God that transformed her spiritual life.
In her youth, Lyn’s faith intertwined with music. Joining the church choir, she found a home in classical liturgy—“Bach and all those dead guys,” as she affectionately puts it. Her leadership in youth group and the influence of several intergenerational mentors further instilled a conviction that laypeople play substantial roles in ministry.
Before entering seminary and later embarking on a doctoral program, Lyn built an extensive academic and professional background. She earned a BA in Government from Smith College, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. Her career ranged from government roles in Washington DC, to financial planning at PepsiCo, to investment banking in Chicago, to joining her husband Carver’s small business in northern Michigan. It was in Michigan that Lyn first began teaching economics at a community college. Throughout these various roles, she remained active in local church choirs and lay ministry.
After her move to Chicago in 1985, she became active in a United Church of Christ congregation, where she met her husband in a Bible study. They married in 1991. After moving to Michigan in the early 1990s, the couple became active lay leaders in a local UCC congregation. Their participation in a multi-year lay formation program ignited a desire for deeper theological study. This growing hunger, combined with Lyn’s focused interest in spiritual gifts, eventually led them to a conference where they heard about Bethel Seminary. The school’s intensive hybrid model proved to be the perfect fit, allowing them to pursue their MDiv degrees while maintaining their home and ministry in Michigan.
Initially, Lyn and Carver pursued their graduate academic studies to become better-equipped lay leaders, even selling their business to focus on ministry. Yet, as Lyn reflected on their start at Bethel in the late 1990s, she recalls, “We had no idea what we were doing! None whatsoever! All of a sudden, we were in seminary. Yet when I look back, I can… see these stones lining up, pointing me on a path to ministry and to teaching.”
A pivotal “stone” was her first course, Theology III, where she realized her convictions were, in fact, Evangelical, a term she had not previously known. Yet this discovery created immediate tension. While her UCC background affirmed women, many Evangelical spaces did not. She spent her seminary years navigating this tension, holding her Evangelical theology alongside a firm commitment to women’s full participation in ministry.
Though Lyn avoided the overt resistance some of her women peers faced, she was often one of the only women in her seminary classes. Her husband Carver’s companionship was vital as they navigated shifting theological identities. Lyn eventually witnessed the culture evolve; by the time she returned to Bethel to teach in 2010, women in were no longer a rarity in the classroom.
A major pivot occurred with Lyn and Carver’s 2003 move to Tucson where they joined a small UCC congregation whose pastor was facing health challenges. Lyn and Carver stepped in to help, alternating Sundays in the pulpit. This church called them as assistant pastors, pending their ordination.
The Nixons returned to Michigan for their UCC ordination, feeling the full support of the community that had first nurtured them, then returned to Tucson to take up their call. However, those plans were upended when the lead pastor had to resign due to failing health. Since Lyn and Carver's positions were tied to the previous leadership, they felt they had no choice but to resign. Lyn recalls the tension of that pivot: “We had a plan and this was not that plan….Now we were in a place that didn’t seem logical to me anymore.” Seeking direction, they consulted their Bethel program director, who suggested the Evangelical Covenant Church, noting that she felt Lyn would “like it there” because of its stance on women in ministry.
On Memorial Day Sunday 2005, Lyn attended to a family commitment while Carver visited Grace Community Covenant Church. After the service, Carver asked then Pastor Scot Gillan if Grace Church had considered the Alpha program. Pastor Scot revealed that the church leadership had been training leaders in Alpha and praying for someone to help launch it. Carver was sold, and returned home telling Lyn, “I found us a church!” Lyn remained skeptical: “This is a church we found in a phone book, and I had never even laid eyes on—in a brand-new denomination!”
Due to summer travel plans, it would be three months before Lyn could finally attend Grace. Arriving during a building dedication, she was immediately struck by the atmosphere: “Grace looked like a wonderful church! It was multigenerational and it just seemed so full of the Holy Spirit…so vibrant.” Reflecting on this newest “stone” being laid before her in her path, Lyn realized the Covenant offered a rare synthesis of her past church experiences and her theological convictions: “What we got was the best of both worlds, an Evangelical faith perspective with the congregational polity I’ve always valued.”
In January 2006, the couple launched Alpha at Grace Church and were encouraged by Pastor Gillan to begin transferring their ordination to the Covenant. Lyn and Carver were also hired (and later called) at Grace as Adult Ministry co-pastors, began their Covenant coursework at North Park Theological Seminary, and began attending various denominational gatherings. A highlight of this season was the 2006 Covenant Annual Meeting, where Lyn was able to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of women’s ordination alongside some of the first women ordained. This served as another significant milestone on her path.
The transfer of Lyn’s ordination to Word and Sacrament “into the keeping” of the Covenant was finalized in 2009. Parallel to Covenant Orientation, she began to pursue advanced academic work. This was sparked by a profound spiritual encounter midway through seminary while she was reading the account of the Walk to Emmaus in Luke 24. She was struck by the verse “Were not our hearts burning within us while he… opened the Scripture to us” (Luke 24:32). It was in that moment Lyn realized, “That’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to open Scripture to people.”
Despite the clarity of her call, Lyn hesitated, arguing with God that she was too old to undertake the hard work of earning a PhD. In a rare moment of hearing God’s voice directly, she received a blunt, humorous nudge: “If you keep on dilly dallying with this decision, you’re not going to get any younger.” In 2007, Lyn began doctoral studies at the London School of Theology, graduating in 2015 with an emphasis on the New Testament. Her academic degree opened doors to teaching master’s degree candidates at Bethel Seminary and several other seminaries, including North Park, where she serves as Affiliate Faculty of New Testament. In the classroom, Lyn’s focus is on New Testament exegesis and theology, Greek, the relationship of the Old Testament and the New Testament, and linguistics.
This journey has not been without trials. In 2013 Lyn was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which tested her resilience amid heavy ministry and teaching loads. Sustained by a deep sense of call, she persevered through health challenges and also some gender-based skepticism she experienced from others. Today, Lyn serves as a vital bridge between the church and academy. Grateful for the Covenant’s role in her development, she continues helping the next generation read Scripture faithfully and live out their callings with hope. Her advice to those beginning their vocation: “Find people willing to support and provide wisdom and discernment... and, once you have that, commit yourself to being faithful to continue, even though there may be bumps in the road. If God has called you to it, God will see you through it.”
Author bio: Since joining the Covenant in 2001, Michelle Hillis has served in leadership roles ranging from her home church, Grace Community Covenant and the broader Tucson community in Tucson, to global mission fields. In 2007, Michelle recognized a distinct call to pastoral ministry, spiritual formation and intentional discipleship. Whether through spiritual direction, story work, or mentoring women in ministry, Michelle is particularly passionate about teaching the spiritual disciplines and providing a supportive space for followers of Christ to grow and flourish.
After earning her MA in Christian Ministry from Grand Canyon University in 2022, Michelle served as a hospice chaplain and on staff at Tucson Refugee Ministry. Today, she holds a bi-vocational ministry license with the Covenant and is the Assistant Director of Women’s Ministries at Romans 12 Ministries, a Tucson-based organization dedicated to refreshing and restoring ministry leaders and their families. Michelle’s heart for discipleship is expressed through mentoring women pastors, ministry leaders, missionaries, and clergy spouses, providing guided listening and fostering connections through covenant groups and community events. Michelle also partners in ministry with her husband, Covenant Pastor David Hillis, who is on staff at a local Nazarene church leading local and global missions as well as the Alpha program.