It's a long way from Phoenix, but the Rev. Mike Olmsted doesn't miss it.

It's longer to Orange County in southern California. He doesn't miss that either.

The new associate pastor for family ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin is making the adjustment from sunnier and warmer climes.

Olmsted is a clergyman, who uprooted his wife and their children from places many Minnesotans dream of living to come to the Land of 10,0000 Lakes and make their home in Austin.

Olmsted, a native of southern California, earned a business degree at Cal State University-Fullerton and spent the next few years working at one business job or the other, including a stint teaching high school math and coaching basketball.

Olmsted chose God's business over others and went to Fuller Theological Seminary at Pasadena, Calif.

The fit, accepting the calling of God and marriage and a family, has been perfect for Olmsted.

He worked in youth ministries at a church in Long Beach, Calif. After 3 1/2 years, he took a position at a Phoenix church.

"Then, we decided it was too hot and we came out here," he joked.

He is the son of an electrical engineer, his father, and a housewife and homemaker, his mother. He has one older brother, Steve, an accountant.

"We just fell in love with it," Olmsted said of his family's reaction to Austin. "Most of all, we enjoyed the people we met."

He and his wife, Coleen, have two sons: Tommy, 8 and a second grader, and Jeremy, 6 and a kindergarten student. The boys attend classes at Southgate Elementary School.

The Olmsted family moved to Austin in late-February after accepting the call in November.

"To be honest, we just felt God's leading," he said of the move from the Southwest to the Midwest. "It's kind of hard to explain, but every step of the way, every part of the process has just been such a blessing and very positive. We have just kept moving forward. Small-town American life is very appealing to us. We have never been out here before.

"Community is real important to me. I felt the community here at Westminster immediately."

What also attracted him to Austin? It might have been Jackie Robinson's baking skills. The chairperson of the committee that worked so hard for so long to find another pastor for the Austin church made an impression on Olmsted.

"The first contact I had with her, she e-mailed me back and said 'Can I bake you cookies or bake you a pie to show you how neat the people are out here and convince you how good the life is in the Midwest?" recalled the pastor.

His duties will fill a position that has been vacant for 2 1/2 years, leaving senior pastor, Rev. Andrew Lindahl, to try to be all things to all people at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

"Andy is a great guy and I look forward to learning from him," Olmsted said.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com