Pastor Jill Nichols-Hicks is so grateful and feel very blessed to be called as the pastor at Northlake Lutheran Church. She grew up in Walla Walla, Washington, a baptized member at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, where she knew as a small child that she was being called to be a Lutheran pastor.
Nichols-Hicks graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham with a BA in Speech Communications and a minor in Anthropology. This is where she met her husband, who is now a retired archaeologist. They have two adult sons that live in the Puget Sound area.
She have been active in the Lutheran church all her life, serving on many committees, and planning and organizing many ministries. Nichols-Hicks has worked in retail businesses, school districts, and owned and operated a women’s organization that she started in 2014 called Illuminating Women that hosted educational events and conferences. The COVID pandemic led her to decide to fulfill her call from childhood and entered seminary at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. She did her internship in the Boston area at Trinity Lutheran in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and then was called to Northlake Lutheran to serve as their pastor.
Her husband, Brent, and Nichols-Hicks love to travel. They spent the fall of 2024 traveling to nine countries, touring many archaeological sites and museums and art galleries. They love the outdoors to hike, bike, and fish. She like to cook, read, go to movies, and spend time with friends sharing meals and conversations. She enjoys meeting with people and sharing God’s love and desire for community flourishing as we walk our Christian faith following the teachings of Jesus.