The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Hope-Tringali was called to serve as Christ the King’s Senior Pastor in September of 2023. She previously served as the Executive Director of Tree 4 Hope, a 501(c)(3) committed to providing long-term hope to children and their families in Guatemala, as Dean of Hope Academy, a bilingual STEAM school for girls in Guatemala; as the Director of Evangelical Mission for New Mission for the Lower Susquehanna Synod in Pennsylvania; and as the Pastor Developer for Communities of Hope, a Synodically-Authorized Worshiping Community. She also served as an Interim Mission Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Camp Hill, PA from 2017 to 2018.
Pastor Jennifer was born in Clarion, PA and raised in Harrisburg, PA, graduating from the Pennsylvania State University in 1991. She received a Master of Science in Neuroscience and Anatomy from the Pennsylvania State University in 1994. She received her Master of Divinity with a concentration on Theology and Public Life in 2016 with honors in Bible, Theology, and Ministerial Practice from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. In 2023, the United Lutheran Seminary granted her the Doctor of Ministry degree with a concentration in Church in Society, which was awarded to her with distinction. Her doctoral thesis, Bold Humility: A Reformation of “Global Accompaniment” and an Expansion of its Praxis, focused on the creation of a biblically rooted and comprehensive program designed to use with congregational groups traveling on short-term mission trips to Guatemala. Additionally, Pastor Jennifer holds a Certificate in School Leadership and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School.
Pastor Jennifer has served as presenter, keynote speaker, and chaplain at many Lutheran synodical, national, and partner organization conferences, as well as in interfaith and outdoor ministry settings. She loves to experiment with how faith can be explored in a variety of contexts and creative expressions, while nurturing both individual and organizational collaboration and leadership. She enjoys teaching Missional Evangelism as adjunct faculty at the United Lutheran Seminary, hiking in the woods, and keeping up with the adventures of her eight children. Pastor Jennifer is happily settling into Houston along with her husband, Deacon David Hope-Tringali, and daughter Maeve.
