Work has always followed the Rev. Will Scott and his wife, the Rev. Katie Scott.

Their work as Presbyterian pastors and their worship have always been a family affair. Now, even more so.

The husband and wife are the new pastors of Oakmont Presbyterian Church. They began the positions July 1.

“Coming here is a return home,” said Katie Scott, 40.

She grew up in Butler, graduating from Butler High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Edinboro University and a Master of Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where she met her husband. She was ordained in 2013.

Will Scott said both he and his wife have fathers who were pastors. Growing up, his father’s profession led him to living in multiple areas, but spending many years in Atlanta. He was ordained in 2012 and received his doctorate from Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia.

The Scotts and their three children relocated from Shreveport, La., to take up the position at Oakmont Presbyterian.

“We’re excited to be in Oakmont,” said Will Scott, 39. “We like lots about the community. We like that it’s connected to a familiar place for us in Pittsburgh, where Katie has family and where we have a lot of friends in the area.”

This is the first time Oakmont Presbyterian has had two pastors, and it’s the Scotts’ first time working together professionally.

“We’ve always talked about (how) we’d like to worship together as a family and how we can make that work when we’re both pastors,” Scott said. “This is really an ideal situation for us to be able to worship with our family, kind of wear those hats as parents and as pastors at the same time.”

Scott last served as senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport for three years. Before that, he spent eight years in Dalton, Ga., as a pastor with the First Presbyterian church there.

Katie Scott worked in development of the Christian Education and Liturgical Arts program at First Presbyterian Church in Dalton. She had served as chaplain, volunteer coordinator and liaison for mission partnership at Westminster Neighborhood Ministries in Indianapolis.

While in Louisiana, she worked as a preschool teacher at First Presbyterian Day School and provided pulpit supply for smaller congregations in the Presbytery of the Pines.

The regional Presbyterian church body that Oakmont Presbyterian is a part of has supported having co-pastors that are spouses, but it’s not very common, Scott said.

“It is a rare situation in which some of it you kind of make up as you go,” she said.

Since the congregation hasn’t had two pastors in the past, they’ve been open to reimagining how to create the job descriptions to accommodate what the needs of the congregation are. As the Scotts grow into the position, they will settle into which roles they fulfill for the church as their interests grow and shift, they said.

Will Scott said they intend to meet in the middle regardless of how the job evolves over time.

“We both like to lead worship,” he said. “I’m used to preaching every week, so I do a little bit more of that. Katie’s really interested in education and mission, so both the care for the younger people in the church, (and) the ways that we reach out into the community.”

They both emphasized the importance of acknowledging the love the community members have for one another.

“You can tell just from first encounter that these people care for one another and that is truly the work of ministry, to love and care for one another,” Katie Scott said.

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