Pastor Brian was born and raised in St. Paul, which is also where he currently resides. He’s been serving part-time at Central for the past 2 and a half years as visitation pastor. Pastor Brian finds joy in being part of a strong, active ministry with a mission-driven focus to both serve its members and outreach to the diversity of the greater community in the Minneapolis urban setting.
Pastor Brian received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN, and his Master of Divinity degree from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELCA) in Berkeley, CA. He was active in UC Berkeley Campus Ministry during tenure at PLTS; a five-week cross-cultural J-Term experience in Mexico City, Mexico. He also served his one-year student pastoral internship in Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
Before coming to Central, Pastor Brian served his first pastoral call as associate pastor to Trinity Lutheran Church in Santa Barbara, CA. His second call at Salem Lutheran Church (Spring House) in South Minneapolis brought him back to Minnesota. He also served sixteen years in a specialized ministry call to Health East/Fairview Health Services, hospital chaplaincy. Pastor Brian’s years of both congregational leadership and chaplaincy work give him the foundation to return to direct pastoral care ministry with those experiencing life change.
Pastor Brian loves the outdoors and has a sensitivity to local environmental issues, with particular interest in protecting the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness) as he has spent many years working and traveling in the North Country. He had involvements early in his life with Minnesota Outward Bound School in Ely, MN, and the Wilderness Canoe Base ministry at the “end of the Gunflint Trail.” Pastor Brian is also an avid reader of non-fiction. He enjoys hiking, bicycling, and traveling.
Pastor Brian has enjoyed a twenty-year partnership and ten years of marriage to his spouse, Bob. As Bob is fully retired, they are enjoying the “semi-retired” lifestyle. Each year, they travel to one place in the United States that they’ve never been before.