Rev. Janet S. Peterman is an ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) pastor who has served both in long‑term calls and as an intentional interim pastor across multiple synods. She completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University and earned her Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School.

Rev. Peterman has served in seven intentional interim settings across three ELCA synods and holds Professional Transition Specialist accreditation through the Interim Ministry Network. Her work focuses on guiding congregations through seasons of pastoral transition with clarity, stability, and purpose.

Janet is widely recognized as an inner‑city ELCA pastor and a respected urban ministry leader, shaped by more than 20 years as pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, a congregation deeply rooted in Black urban communities. Her ministry in Germantown and Mount Airy profoundly influenced her pastoral identity and theological voice.

She has written extensively on racial justice and anti‑racism, drawing from decades of lived experience in African American communities. Her work reflects a deep engagement with issues of race, privilege, and congregational identity. In the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, she describes how she “adjusted to living in and serving an African American community,” and how that experience reshaped her understanding of pastoral leadership, privilege, and her own formation.

Rev. Peterman is also the author of Speaking to Silence: New Rites for Christian Worship and Healing (WJK Press). In this book, she offers a wide range of healing and comforting rituals for situations commonly encountered in congregational life but not typically addressed in standard liturgies. She reflects on the significance of ritual, provides resources for personal, household, congregational, and community use, and outlines a seven‑step process for creating new rituals or adapting existing worship materials for new contexts.

In addition to her book, Janet contributes regularly to the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, writing on racism, privilege, congregational life, and the spiritual and communal dimensions of healing.