On Sunday, March 4, 1984, I was ordained into full time ministry in the middle of a Minneapolis blizzard. Most of those invited to the big event couldn't make it due to the snow. My in-laws almost didn't make it. If nothing else, the snow makes for a great story. During the service, held at Vision of Glory Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis) I knelt at the altar while Pastor Leland Everson (pastor of Vision of Glory), Walt Kallestad (my soon to be "boss" and partner in ministry for over 20 years) and my Grandpa laid hands on me and asked for God's blessing on my ministry. It was a humbling moment. It was the culmination of a dream come true. I've wanted to be a pastor since I was in second grade. It was also the beginning of the adventure of a life-time. I've experienced things, seen things, met people, and gone places I never imagined back when I was in second grade.
But as it was 25 years ago, ministry continues to be a humbling experience--that the Creator of the Universe would be interested in using me in a small way to bring his grace to the world never ceases to amaze me.
Over the next several days I'm going to share some of my experiences from 25 years of ministry and mission. I've learned that ordained ministry is not really about the pastor. A pastor is really a compilation of all the people who have impacted his/her life with the Gospel. But for my sake, I thought it would be good to "put to blog" so to speak, some of my thoughts on this rather historic occasion. Feel free to read along.
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