Meet the Pastor and Staff

Meet the Pastor

I was born and raised in a family of four boys in Michigan northwest of the Grand Rapids area in a rural German farming community. We lived in the midst of a large close-knit extended family. I’m half Irish and half German- explains a lot about my personality. I attended a small Lutheran (Missouri Synod) school surrounded by farms and orchards through the 8^th grade and then went to high school in town. Until that time, I thought the world was mostly made up of Lutherans and Catholics and that one of us was going to hell. Or at least separate rooms in heaven.  (Though, my mother’s side of the family was Baptist and in their eyes, we were all going to hell. But, I didn’t care much as long as they weren’t going to be there). As early as I can remember, I worked in fields and orchards. When I was fourteen I was hired into an “easy” job in the grocery store in town. When I was 15, I began an apprenticeship as a meat-cutter. I enjoyed that trade and thought I’d found my calling, but things changed.  Some years later, stores started buying beef already broken down into primal cuts from a far off land called “Iowa.” I didn’t like Iowa much back then since IBP changed the nature of my job. As the more skilled part of meat cutting disappeared from the stores, I decided to go to the university and I majored in International Affairs and economics. After that, I began my MBA and started working for the United States Treasury Department.  Then I became a broker of stocks, bonds and commodities. I also spent time in Corporate Banking. While those ventures were interesting and informative, they were never quite fulfilling and I was restless. Since I’ve always enjoyed philosophy and theology, I decided to begin more graduate studies in a seminary with an eye to becoming a professor someday in a college or university. To avoid moving young children to a large city setting, I ended up, of all places, in Iowa at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque.  And that is how I came to live in the very state that I didn’t like. Though, I have come to love it here (except during the winter) and now consider it home. What happened to my plans to be a professor? As part of the seminary education and experience, completing an internship in a parish setting is required.  During that period, the vicar has the opportunity for practical learning and real-life experience of being the resident theologian for a faith community. I had such a positive experience during my vicarage that I desired to stay in parish and congregational life. During my time as a parish pastor, I have been in several settings: a bedroom community, a rural setting, and the inner city, along with several subsequent interims. While each setting has unique characteristics, they also have commonalities. Teri and I have 5 children:  two on the East Coast, three in this area. We have 5 grandchildren: four grandsons and a princess (as Teri puts it) and we are fortunate that they live locally. We enjoy running, biking, hiking, and anything active. We travel quite a bit and always have an eye out for an adventure. We live in LeClaire, though we talk of someday jumping the rails and seeing where they take us. We view life as a gift to be lived, played with, and enjoyed.

Staff

Vicar Katie Anderson

Pastoral Intern

Our Pastoral Intern for 2020-2021 is Vicar Katie Anderson. Vicar Anderson began her one-year internship in June 2020.