Rev. Forrest Claasen Elected as Next Synod Executive

The Rev. Forrest Claassen, co-executive and stated clerk of the Presbytery of Los Ranchos, has been elected the next executive of the Synod of the Trinity, a multi-state mid council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Claassen was unanimously elected during the Synod’s recent Assembly, held virtually. He succeeds the Rev. Susan Faye Wonderland, whose contract is expiring after 13 years with the Synod, including the last seven-plus years as transitional executive.

“When I think about what Trinity has called me to do, I see a convergence,” Claassen said. “All sorts of ministry experiences over the last 25-plus years have led to this.”

Claassen is a graduate of Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, and Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity.

Prior to his service in Los Ranchos, Claassen served as stated clerk of the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest from 2009 to 2013, pastor at Clarkston (WA) Presbyterian Church from 2005 to 2013, co-pastor to a tri-cultural congregation in Southeast Alaska, stated supply minister for a Haida village church in the Presbytery of Alaska for five years, moderator and then chair of General Council of the Presbytery of Alaska, and commissioner to the 212th General Assembly in Long Beach, CA.