New Pastor Brings A Bit Of Alaska To St. John's Lutheran

From Alaska to Nebraska, Pastor Ellery Steffensen of St. John's Lutheran Church is settling into life in Kimball.

He was ordained and installed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor two months ago. Pastor Steffensen said, "It has been a joyous two months."

Excited to finally do what he has been trained to do and what he always knew he wanted to do, Pastor Steffensen said, "So you spend all this time at seminary cramming lots of knowledge into your head. Are you going to be able to share that with people in a beneficial way? It is such a pleasure and a joy." He continued, "You have to be able to share the knowledge now with people. They are so thankful. That is the joy."

Finally, Pastor Steffensen said, "The seminary years are actually, I would say, some of the harder years because you are kind of sequestered away, and it is a learning environment. And what you want to do, you want to be with people, you want to be teaching, that is what you love doing."

Raised in a dedicated church family, he said, "My parents loved the Bible and taught us the Bible at an early age." Explaining the first time he had the idea of becoming a pastor, "I was 7 years old when the first time being a pastor popped into my brain. It was after a Lenten service in the spring. We came home, and I told my mom I just felt some kind of burden to be something, do something with my life. She told me to read the Bible. I did. I ended up opening the Bible to the call of Jeremiah." God confronts Jeremiah: "Don't be afraid, and don't say I am too young." So, a young Ellery began to accept his "internal calling" and focus on the path he would set out for himself.

From Alaska, Pastor Steffensen went to Concordia-University of Texas and received a bachelor's degree in communication and biblical languages, studying Greek and Hebrew. Pastor Steffensen met his wife Meghan at Concordia, and they married just before he went to the seminary. Meghan is from a small town in central New York.

The Steffensen family has already grown since their arrival in Kimball. Baby Jubilee is 3 weeks old, and she joins her brothers Jeremiah, 1½, and Ezekiel, 3.

After completing his seminary studies, there is always more need for pastors than are available. The Steffensen family found out they would be heading to the Wyoming District. Still, Pastor Steffensen said Kimball has turned out to be a good fit for them. His parents were from the Midwest before they went to work in the school system in Alaska, and most Alaskans have that pioneer spirit, much like Midwesterners.

Growing up in Alaska, sports were an essential part of the Steffensen family. While his mother was a speech pathologist in the school, his father taught P.E. and coached, with wrestling his favorite sport. As a youth in Alaska, Pastor Steffensen was an undefeated national wrestling champion in middle school and won two state wrestling titles in high school. Although picked to win four state titles in high school, Pastor Steffensen, unfortunately, suffered some health issues from the long, dark, cold winters.

Pastor Steffensen said his goal in Kimball is to serve "whoever is willing to listen and learn to love God's word more and more. Whoever can come and hear and learn to love God's word."

Services at St. John's in Kimball are at 10 a.m. Sunday, with Bible Study and Sunday School afterward.

The Burns, Wyoming, service is at 8 a.m., with Worship on Thursday nights at 6.