Our Pastor

Pastor John was born in Minnesota and moved to California when he was a teenager. He graduated from high school in Santa Cruz, California and attended California Concordia College (Oakland) for 2 years.

 

He then attended San Jose State College for four years, receiving a joint degree in Philosophy and Psychology. Following his graduation from San Jose State he attended Concordia Seminary, St.Louis, Missouri. After the split in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, he graduated from Christ Seminary Seminex in 1975, and was ordained in Burlingame, CA in 1976 (having been called as an Apartment Minister in the Burlingame/San Mateo area).

 

Pastor John is married to Marcia, and they reside in the Evergreen area of San Jose. They have one daughter, Lara, who is married and lives in Oklahoma, with her husband Russell, where she is a horse trainer. They have two grandchildren -- Trace  and Brooklyn.

 

Outside of Holy Redeemer, Pastor John is engaged in ecumenical and interfaith work on the local, state and national level as well as being a tireless advocate for marginalized workers. He also reads incessantly, is a sports fanatic, and collects chess sets, crosses and arks (as in "Noah").