Rev. Rebecca Campney Carver is a retired elder in the Iowa Annual Conference, having served various ministries during her 37-year career. A preacher’s kid, she grew up in various communities in Iowa where her dad was the pastor. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, she attended Simpson College, where she graduated with a BA in religion and a minor in History. Her seminary years were spent first at Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC, and then at St. Paul’s School of Theology in Kansas City where she received her MDiv. She was ordained as an elder in full connection in 1989.

 

Rebecca served churches in Moulton, Mitchellville-Santiago, Prairieview (Packwood-Ollie), Coralville, and Iowa City, First. She also was the director of the Wesley Foundation at UNI for four years and worked as a chaplain with Iowa City Hospice for 15 years and at the Birdhouse/the Hospice Home of Johnson County for 2 years. She has co-taught the worship class for School for Lay Ministry with her husband, Phil. She is trained in grief counseling and has taught classes on death and dying. Rebecca serves on the Institutional Review Board for the University of Iowa Office of Human Subjects, which is tasked with reviewing all research projects of the UIHC, Dental College, etc.

 

She is married to Phil Carver, who is the worship arts director at First UMC, Iowa City. They live in Coralville. They are the parents of Joel, who lives in North Liberty and works for Coca-Cola. Joel is a guitarist with the alternative metal group, Non Grata. Joel’s son, Grayson, is 8 years old and autistic. He lives with his two younger siblings with his other grandparents in Cedar Rapids.

 

Rebecca plays violin in various musical productions in the Iowa City area and in the last year has learned to play the electric bass. She enjoys knitting, cross stitch, working on crossword puzzles, and playing with her grandson.