About
The Rev. Wanda K. Frenchman is an Indigenous leader in the ELCA. She is a member of the Oglala Lakota (South Dakota) and Lenape (Oklahoma) tribes and serves as one of two pastors of Native American Urban Ministry in Phoenix, Ariz. She is the first Indigenous woman in the Grand Canyon Synod to be ordained in the ministry of Word and Sacrament.
Frenchman was installed into the leadership at Native American Urban Ministry to continue the work started by her mother, Pastor Mary Louise Frenchman, in 2012. Native American Urban Ministry serves all urban Natives in Phoenix, providing a community for Christian believers and traditional culture to come together for spiritual growth.
Frenchman is a mission developer and won a Mission Developer Scholarship from the ELCA Fund for Leaders in 2021. She is also program assistant for the ELCA’s Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations. She will complete the Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in February 2026.
Her personal passions include competitive billiards, yoga, camping, traveling, Bible study and attending Native American powwows and ceremonies.
About
The Rev. Wanda K. Frenchman is an Indigenous leader in the ELCA. She is a member of the Oglala Lakota (South Dakota) and Lenape (Oklahoma) tribes and serves as one of two pastors of Native American Urban Ministry in Phoenix, Ariz. She is the first Indigenous woman in the Grand Canyon Synod to be ordained in the ministry of Word and Sacrament.
Frenchman was installed into the leadership at Native American Urban Ministry to continue the work started by her mother, Pastor Mary Louise Frenchman, in 2012. Native American Urban Ministry serves all urban Natives in Phoenix, providing a community for Christian believers and traditional culture to come together for spiritual growth.
Frenchman is a mission developer and won a Mission Developer Scholarship from the ELCA Fund for Leaders in 2021. She is also program assistant for the ELCA’s Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations. She will complete the Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in February 2026.
Her personal passions include competitive billiards, yoga, camping, traveling, Bible study and attending Native American powwows and ceremonies.
