Greetings Lord of Life folks! (What should I call you? Lord of Lifers? I’ll have to ponder that one....) I’m Pastor Kris Totzke, your interim pastor for this time of transition. I’m writing to give you a brief introduction to who I am so you have some idea what to expect in December. You’ll find out lots more about me once I’m there. You’ll also hear much more about what this journey of transition will look like and how we will travel it together. That will come with the next newsletter. This is just the introduction of me.
As I write this, I’m currently finishing up as an interim at Christ the King in Brookfield, but prior to this I served as a regular “settled” pastor in three congregations. First, in Norwalk, Ohio as an associate pastor at St. Peter Lutheran. Then I moved to Racine to serve five years as the associate pastor at Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church (your neighbors up the highway.) From there I moved to become a solo pastor for eleven years at Martin Luther Church in Milwaukee (near the Zoo.) I still live in Milwaukee, but chose to follow my calling into intentional interim ministry to find new challenges in ministry, to feed my restless spirit, and to experience the great joys of meeting so many more people and hearing their stories. I do feel it is a calling to serve in this way, and am excited to be called as your interim pastor for the year to come.
I referred a journey of transition earlier in this bio. That really fits how I see life in general. In my
experience, the best way to live and grow is to always seek out the adventures and journeys along the way. Ask me someday about my last adventure - driving Route 66 all the way from Chicago to the Santa Monica pier! Or I’ll gladly tell you all about my sabbatical journey - 10 weeks traveling in an old RV with 2 cats and a laptop, mostly in the eastern region of the country. I think my love for exploring and travel comes from feeling confined during my first 18 years of life on a farm in Edgar, Wisconsin (just west of Wausau.) I went to college at UW-Eau Claire, went back to Edgar to teach elementary school for four years, and then headed to seminary in St. Paul, MN after finally listening to the voices of the many youth I worked with over the years at church and church camps. Since then, I’ve always looked forward to the next adventure down the road. My companion in that journey over the last couple of years has been a very well-loved (aka “spoiled”) 19-year-old cat named Tasha. She’ll have to learn to share me with you now for the next year or so.
I’m looking forward to hearing your stories next!
Pastor Kris Totzke
