Our Staff

The Rev. Evan McClanahan, STS

The Rev. Evan McClanahan, STS, is originally from Shreveport, Louisiana. As a son of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Shreveport, he was steeped in Lutheran liturgy and theology. He attended Centenary College of Louisiana and earned a B.A. Music, focusing on classical guitar.

Pastor McClanahan worked for two years as an executive recruiter before being called to seminary. He attended the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for three years, and had a one year internship at St. John Lutheran in Royal, Illinois, a town of 300 in central Illinois. He met his wife Amanda in Chicago and they married in 2006.

Upon graduating from seminary, he was called to Living Word Lutheran Church in Grapevine, Texas, where he served as Associate Pastor. Since December 2009, he was called to serve as Pastor at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. He enjoys playing bluegrass music with a church trio and will enter an international competition for mountain dulcimer this fall.

In May 2009, he and his wife had their first child, daughter Adalyn Rose. In March, 2011, they had their son Alister Gregory. Amanda and Evan both enjoy entertaining, cooking, and spending time with their children and their Lhasa Apso, Gus.

Sabrina Smitherman, Administrative Assistant

Sabrina Smitherman came on staff at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in August 2008.

Sabrina has several years of experience in retail customer service but no job she’s held has given her as much personal and professional satisfaction as working with the congregation and pastors at First. She feels truly blessed to have found her niche.

Pastors Emeritus