About Bio Intro: About Joanne In 2019, Joanne Whitt retired after nearly 15 years as the pastor/head of staff of First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo. Since then, she has served in two interim pastor positions. She is a credentialed spiritual director, working with people of various faith traditions. She serves as pulpit supply for clergy colleagues on vacation or sabbatical. Joanne has preached close to a thousand sermons in the context of Sunday morning worship, memorial services, funerals, weddings, services for wholeness and healing, and chapel at San Francisco Theological Seminary, as well as special holiday services. She has used visual art, poetry, choral readings, and music to proclaim the Word. She has preached in sanctuaries and chapels, at gravesides, next to campfires, and at wineries, on Zoom, at beaches, and other wedding venues. She has preached to congregations of over 1,000 people and under a dozen people. Two of her sermons are included on the website of the Hosanna Preaching Project as examples of sermons that meet the criteria of prophetic preaching for the Hosanna Preaching Prize. As much as Joanne enjoys preaching, during her first semester as an adjunct professor of preaching she learned that she enjoys teaching preaching even more. Prior to beginning seminary, Joanne was a trial lawyer for 15 years. She has served on the Board of Trustees of San Francisco Theological Seminary, as Moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Pacific, and as co-chair of the Committee on Ministry of the Presbytery of the Redwoods.