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‘I just put my hand to the plow’

‘I just put my hand to the plow’, osl pastor, pastor leaving
Rev. John Weisenburger will leave Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Owatonna this month after 18 years of service.
Departing pastor reflects on 18 years in Owatonna
By
Joni Hubred, News Editor

When Rev. John Weisenburger accepted a call to serve Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (OSL) in Owatonna, he never dreamed he’d still be there 18 years later.

Over that time, the church has seen tremendous growth in membership, staff, and physical size. Because it’s in a strong position, Weisenburger decided to make a change and will soon move on to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kasson.

It’s a familiar place; he worked there part time 20 years ago before joining OSL.

In those early days, the OSL staff consisted of two pastors and a church secretary. Weisenburger came to the position having worked in larger churches employing more people.

“I just put my hand to the plow,” he said, to provide more programming. “I pushed the congregation to hire a consultant and do a long-range plan… We just followed that.”

More staff, expansion

The first step was hiring a church administrator, which freed pastors to do more people-centered work.

When Rev. Ron Gilthvedt retired in 2008, the congregation used funds that were spent on his salary and benefits to build up programming. They hired a youth director, a Christian education director, and an interim pastor. And by 2010, Our Savior’s started running out of space to serve its growing membership.

Members committed to a $1.2 million expansion, Weisenburger said, which now houses a preschool room, family life center, youth room, and music room.

Over time, the staff has grown to include six full-time and four part-time employees–including a minister, Yang Tut, who works with members who have emigrated from Sudan.

COVID conflicts

Founded with 600 members, Our Savior’s now serves more than 1,000. In the wake of COVID-19, though, that looks a little different.

“All the members are there,” Weisenburger said. “The participation is not where we were three years ago.”

To stay in touch during the pandemic, the church added cameras in the worship space, eventually moving to Facebook Live to broadcast services. They’ve also hired someone to deal with the new technology, which has become a permanent addition.

“Even though people are coming back to worship in person,” Weisenburger said, “we won’t stop doing it.”

COVID-19 also created some division within the congregation with regard to masks, closures, and other pandemic protocols. Weisenburger said the church faced similar conflicts in 2009 when the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) decided to recognize same-sex marriages and accept and affirm people in the LGBTQ community as full members.

Members refused to speak with each other about that issue, with some on the conservative side even leaving the church. During the pandemic, Weisenburger saw a different response.

“I think the congregation was forced to have really strong conversations with each other,” he said. “We were forced to communicate with each other but still remain in relationship and community.”

While church council votes, typically unanimous, often ended in 5-4 splits, the tone remained respectful in those difficult discussions.

“I was really proud of the council and the congregation,” Weisenburger said.

Changes in Owatonna

While working in Kasson, Weisenburger said he and his wife, Lori, will remain in Owatonna. They have three children: Joshua, 27; Anna, 23; and Lydia, 21.

Along with watching his church grow and change, Weisenburger has seen the wider community do the same. Desires for an improved downtown and a new high school have become reality, but Owatonna still struggles with the influx of Somali refugees that started about two decades ago, he said.

Weisenburger said he is encouraged by the number of organizations like the Human Rights Commission and the Alliance for Greater Equity formed to support diversity.

“People who want to make this a better place for all people to live are finding each other,” he said. 

As he leaves his long-time post, Weisenburger said he will take with him some important lessons, like how to build a church staff and develop the morale of the staff and congregation.

“For me, Our Savior’s has a very organic sense of ministry,” he said, “that ministry is developed by people who have a passion for things. Let’s nurture them and let that drive the process.”

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