One of the newest families to arrive in Carver County this fall moved here from 9,000 miles away.
Beth and Ben Barthelemy — along with daughters Norah, Stella, Tess and Ady — lived in South Africa for the past eight years. Ben served there as a lecturer at the Union Bible Institute and as a pastoral leader at several local churches.
But earlier this year, Ben accepted a call to become the next senior pastor at Valley Evangelical Free Church in Chaska. He was officially installed in that role during an Oct. 26 ceremony.
“It was a long process, and it was kind of a complicated process for them to look for a pastor when he’s living thousands of miles away,” he said. “We had a bunch of Zoom meetings, seeking to discover whether we be a good fit for each other.”
The Barthelemys first connected with Valley Free in September of 2024, and the conversation progressed from there. The couple finally traveled to Minnesota in late May 2025 for a candidating weekend so they could explore the senior pastor opportunity, and the congregation could meet them and ask questions.
Over the past few years, Beth and Ben started feeling like they wanted to return to the United States and be near Beth’s parents in Wisconsin. Carver County certainly fit the bill.
“And our girls were getting a little bit older, and we wanted them to transition back to their home culture before they started college,” Ben explained.
Ben said he also felt God leading him into full-time pastoral ministry back home.
“I met my wife at Moody Bible Institute, and we both had a desire to go overseas somewhere and serve as global workers,” Ben recalled. “But we also kind of recognized we probably wouldn’t be there for the rest of our lives. We thought maybe about 10 years, which is what it ended up being.”
The Barthelemy clan arrived back on U.S. soil this summer, and Ben officially began his new role in early September.
“It was clear that this was a good fit,” he said. “The biggest thing that sold us on this church was just how welcoming and genuine people were. And the church is a size conducive to getting to know everyone here. Everybody knows everybody’s names.”
The congregation rallied around the Barthelemy family as they arrived from South Africa with limited household furniture and personal items to outfit a new home. After the Barthelemys purchased a home in Carver, volunteers showed up to help the family paint, replace flooring, donate furniture and provide meals.
“The church came alongside us and sought to make it as easy as possible,” Ben reported. “We are so thankful for that.”
The home remodeling projects also gave the Barthelemys a unique chance to meet and get to know church members more quickly, Ben added.
“It really jump-started relationships with people who we might not initially meet or spend time with,” he said. “That was cool.”
As Ben settles in as pastor at Valley Free, he shares a simple vision for what the future of the church might look like under his leadership.
“My hope is that we are a church that increasingly becomes more like Jesus,” he explains. “That is my greatest hope.”
As for the family, Ben says they are committed to loving the place where they live. They already love the “small-town feel” of the area.
The family has scouted out several favorite coffee shops, visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and enjoyed some ice cream at the Carver Creamery.
“Neither Beth nor I have lived in Minnesota before, but we really want to come to love Minnesota — and love Carver County specifically,” Ben said. “We’re on a quest to see what the state has to offer and kind of the different unique things about this place.”
