(August - 2003) Rev. Kalajainen served as the Senior Pastor of the American Church in Paris, the oldest and
one of the largest international congregations in the world. The church has a regular worshiping constituency of
approximately 1500, with a weekly average attendance of 650, approximately half of whom are
Americans and the other half from some forty different countries of origin and denominational
background.
Prior to Paris, Rev. Kalajainen served United Methodist churches in New Jersey following six years as a missionary pastor in Sarawak, E. Malaysia.
Rev. Kalajainen received his Ph.D. in New Testament & Christian Origins from Drew University.
Rev. Kalajainen also received graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary
and Asbury Theological Seminary and
a bachelors degree in Secondary Education - English from the University of Pittsburgh. Larry is an accomplished author and has published
four publications, which can be found here.
Larry and Carol Kalajainen were married in 1969. Carol graduated from Asbury College and later received her Master's in Language Education from Rutgers University. She currently teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) at two universities in Paris. They have two adult daughters: Kris, who lives in New York City and works as a grant writer and development officer for the Order of the Carmelites; and Kate, who teaches at the American Community School in Surrey, England.
For more than thirty years, Larry has cultivated a serious interest in fine-art photography. Larry is also an avid reader, with an eclectic taste. He particularly enjoys modern fiction, and has been known to indulge in late-night reading of spy novels and murder mysteries. Both he and Carol share a love of music, dance, and the arts.
Rev. Kalajainen ministry ended at First Parish in January of 2008.
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