Rev. Erica A. Thompson

Contact Rev. Thomson at ethompson@ahcc.org

I was born and raised on the Northern plains of rural Minnesota, moved to the East Coast with my family as an adolescent, and returned to Minnesota for college earning my under graduate degree in Social Work from Concordia College - Moorhead, Minnesota in May 1997.  
The fall after graduation, I left the country as an Urban Youth Development volunteer with the US Peace Corps and headed to Guayaquil, Ecuador where I lived and worked for three years. Upon return to the United States in the fall of 2000, I started seminary at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. I graduated from PTS in the spring of 2003 and was called to be the Associate Minister at Old South Union Church in January 2004.    

I am the daughter of Gary and Linda Smith, a sister to Abby Smith, and the wife of Brian Thompson. Brian and I were married on January 14, 2007 in Ecuador - South America, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Brian and are the parents of two wonderful "children": Charlie our English bulldog, and Maya Lynn - who came into the world in the early hours of March 18, 2009.  She is the joy of our lives and has bestowed upon us, and all who meet her, blessings which are too numerous to count.  

I also am a traveler and an avid reader.  I love animals and kids, and kids that act like animals. I love good food and wine, speaking Spanish, going to the beach, hip hop and folk music, and wearing flip flops and jeans. I love peace, and justice, and righteousness.  I love diversity and the celebration of our common humanity! I love myself, my family, my friends, the church, and above all else I love God - the Creator and Sustainer of life.

The chorus of one of my favorite song says, "All it takes is a point of light, a ray of hope in the darkest night.  If you see what's wrong and you try to make it right, you become a point of light." Ever since I was a little girl, being a point of light is what I have tried to do with my life.

As in the beginning was the Word, a light shining in the darkness, I think we are called as human beings to be those points of light for each other. I truly believe that each one of us has the potential to transmit the light of God to others, sometimes it is simply a matter of igniting a spark and then fanning the flames.With that in mind, it is my sincere hope that through my preaching, teaching, and community outreach at AHCC, I can help to ignite the flames in others so that we might go out into the world illuminating the way of hope in the darkest night.