North, South, and Now East!
A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. – Proverbs 16:9 RSV
How did you end up in Ohio? This is a question I’ve been asked in various forms over the last few months. Only a few short days ago I was serving as a pastor on the high plains. Now I am in what is for me an unfamiliar part of the country. I have driven through Ohio many times, but until this last summer, I never expected to call it home.
Life is filled with unexpected things, at least in my experience. That’s why this verse from Proverbs 16:9 has been meaningful for me over the years: A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
I can’t say that I anticipated being called to serve in small-town Ohio. But at the same time, I am not surprised that my life has taken an unexpected turn. For me, most significant things have been unexpected. You just never know what is around the corner, the new adventures to which God calls us.
The title of this, my first newsletter article for Grace Lutheran Church in Thornville, is the same as my last newsletter article for my now former call at Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lindy, Nebraska. In that article, I reflected on the different places I have been led, the different people God has placed in my path, and the blessings I have both given and received in the process. As I sit here among unpacked boxes in the parsonage, I would like to do the same here as a way of introducing myself and my family to you.
I was born and raised in rural Canby, Minnesota, a small town near the South Dakota border, named for a Union Army general in the Civil War (for reasons that remain obscure to me). My dad farmed until I was six and then took a job at the technical college in town. Therefore, I wasn’t technically a “farm kid,” but I did grow up with corn and soybean fields on three sides of my house.
As odd as it sounds, I have come to expect the unexpected. After high school graduation in 1998, I studied at Augustana College (now University) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, one of the historic Lutheran colleges in the United States, out of the Norwegian Lutheran tradition. When I was in middle school and early high school, I was probably the last person anyone would have thought would become a pastor. I was fairly cynical about church and didn’t think much about faith. But God had other plans, and he drew me back to the promise he had given me when I was baptized as an infant. In ninth grade, I first felt a calling to serve as a pastor and possibly a professor in the future, so I tailored my course of study in preparation for that.
The summers between my college years found me serving as a summer camp counselor for youth at Lutheran church camps in Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota. I never expected to be a camp counselor, but this experience stretched me in a good way, and I came to love it.
I entered Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2002, which is the historic Norwegian Lutheran seminary. For my required internship in my third year, there were a select number of international internships available. I applied for that, hoping that it would be an opportunity to use the German language I had spent so much time learning in college. I expected to be posted to the international, English-speaking congregation in Berlin. They sent me instead to a joint site between the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, the home of the Lutheran church musician Johann Sebastian Bach, and what was called the “Wittenberg Center,” an English-speaking continuing educational center for people desiring to learn more about Martin Luther and the Reformation. Working in a foreign language and unfamiliar culture was challenging, but it was one of the more rewarding experiences of my life.
For a time, I expected to remain single my whole life, thinking this was God’s will for me. That all changed upon my return from Germany when I met Theresa at Luther Seminary, who was in her first year during my last year. After graduation from seminary, I expected to be assigned as a pastor to Montana or North Dakota, my top two choices. I was unexpectedly assigned to northwestern Minnesota. I received a call to serve two small congregations in a quintessential Norwegian town called Gonvick. Serving among the good folks at Samhold and United Lutheran Churches for four years made me more familiar with traditional Norwegian foods like lefse and potato klub (I will leave it to you to research what those are). I also picked up a really thick Norwegian accent, which was also unexpected.
I thought I might be in Gonvick for some time longer, but the opportunity presented itself to pursue further education. Still without children, Theresa and I moved back to St. Paul, Minnesota for me to begin my Ph.D. degree program. After a year and a half on campus for my coursework, Theresa unexpectedly received a call to serve Grace and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches in Menno, South Dakota.
While still working on finishing my degree from a distance, I unexpectedly received a phone call at the church parsonage from the council president of Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church of Lindy, Nebraska, an hour south of Menno. They were in a time of transition, and though I wasn’t looking for it, they called me to serve as their pastor, which I did for seven years.
I never expected to become a family man with three children. But over the years, three children have been added to our household and enriched us with their presence.
This brings me to today. In addition to God’s steadfast love in Christ, unexpectedness has been the recurring theme of my life. Therefore, when I encountered Jeff Morlock in the hall at the NALC convocation in Texas this last summer, I remained open when he suggested the possibility of serving at Grace Lutheran in Thornville. Home for us is wherever we make it, and we are glad to be among you, even if we find ourselves on the opposite side of the Midwest from our most recent location. This has been the oddest Christmas I have ever experienced, tying up loose ends in South Dakota and Nebraska while packing boxes. But we are glad finally to get settled and ease into the process of becoming buckeyes!
Over the next few weeks, in conversation with the church council and others, I will begin identifying aspects of congregational life that need attention, such as confirmation instruction, youth events, and the like. It will take some time for us to get acquainted. Therefore, I also hope to hold a series of “cottage gatherings,” simply times of informal gathering held in the homes of various members. More information on this is forthcoming.
You should know that in addition to history, theology, music, Star Trek, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings, I love writing newsletter articles for congregations. When I do, I try my best to end with something profound. But as of this point, having been here for only a few days and not even yet officially installed as pastor, the most profound thing I can say is “thank you.”
Thank you for your welcome of me and my family. Thank you for all the work so many have done in preparation for our arrival. Thank you for your patience with me as I struggle to place names with faces and learn the ins and outs of this congregation and community. Most of all, thank you for the many ways that all of you serve the Lord in this congregation and in your daily lives.
As a pastor, I began my ministry far “up north” in Minnesota. I moved further south among Nebraska cattle farmers. Now I have moved east. I am looking forward to beginning this new chapter in the life of Grace Lutheran together with you!
Pr. Tom Jacobson