Pastor Carolyn Haas
Lead Pastor
A native of Marshfield, WI, Carolyn was blessed to grow up in a loving Christian home. God began drawing her at a young age--when she was just 14 she made a commitment to serve God in full-time ministry, and by age 19 she had already been on 7 mission trips!
She met her husband Peter in high school, and they started dating their junior year. They got married their junior year of college, while Carolyn was studying European history at the University of Minnesota. Carolyn spent her college summers on mission trips, led Bible studies throughout the semesters, and was involved in leadership with Chi Alpha, a student group on campus.
In June 1996, Peter and Carolyn went back to their hometown to intern at Believers Church. What was supposed to be a summer internship turned into a full time job--a job that meant leaving college. Leaving college was one of the biggest decisions she has ever made and major step of trust in God’s plan. Peter and Carolyn were full time youth pastors at Believers for 3 years and then became Senior Pastors of the church in 1999. Together Peter and Carolyn hosted youth conferences, created a two-year Ministry Training School, built a youth center and helped lead a Halloween outreach every October that reached 14,000 people a year.
In 2004 Peter and Carolyn moved back to the Twin Cities to launch Substance Church. In just a few short years, Substance has become one of the fastest growing and most youthful mega-churches churches in the United States. Over 70% of the thousands who participate in their community are under 30 years old.
Carolyn has spoken at many women’s retreats and conferences. She is passionate about marriage, parenting, small groups and understanding the Myers-Briggs personality profiles. She continues to fuel her passion for missions by traveling with her husband to teach at a pastor’s conferences in Egypt, Switzerland, China, Slovakia and beyond! Carolyn serves on the boards of Transform MN and ARC Women.
Though she does many things in church and ministry, Carolyn’s favorite role in life is being a wife to Peter and mom to their three adorable kids: Lijah (11), True (9) and Eden (6).
Twitter: @Carolyn Haas
Facebook: Carolyn Haas