Rev. Dr. Olaf Hoeckmann-Percival

Pastor Olaf being greeted on his first Sunday

Pastor Olaf Hoeckmann-Percival was born in San Rafael, California, in 1962. He grew up in the small town of La Habra Heights, east of Los Angeles. In 1979, he went overseas to finish high school in Ulm, West Germany. In 1981, he returned to the US to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Literature at the California State University. In 1985, he moved to Berkeley to complete a Master’s of Divinity at the Pacific School of Religion, part of the Graduate Theological Union. He served the Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland as an associate pastor during his seminary education.

In 1988 he married his wife, Helen, who was also a student in Berkeley. They graduated together a day after they were married. They were commissioned by the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to serve as missionaries to Thailand for a four-year term. In 1989 their first daughter, Carolyn, was born in Bangkok.

After returning to the US in 1993, Pastor Olaf was called to serve as the minister of the Westwood Hills Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Pastor Olaf was ordained and installed in November of that year. In 1996 their second daughter, Kimberly, was born..

In 2000, Pastor Olaf was called to minister at the Warden Community Church in Washington State. In 2004 he completed his doctoral studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, earning a Doctor of Ministry degree. In July of 2005, he began a new ministry at the Waimea United Church of Christ.