Many churches have one pastor for their one church.
Ohio First Lutheran Church will have two pastors for two churches with husband and wife Jeff and Lori Whalen, of Peru, leading the congregation at Ohio First Lutheran and Trinity Evangelical in Manlius.
First Lutheran is hosting an open house, with food served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, June 25. It is open to the general public and will feature activities for children.
“We encourage a large turnout of community people to come meet our new pastors,” said Julie Anderson, event organizer.
Although this is their first opportunity to serve as ministers authorized by the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Whalens have held leadership positions for the Via de Cristo program and St. John’s Lutheran in Peru and have completed Diakonia training. Jeff and Lori Whalen also are bi-vocational. Whalen is the business manager for La Salle-Peru High School. Jeff Whalen has retired from law enforcement in La Salle County and is now a delivery driver for Community Wholesale Tire.
Ohio First Lutheran spent nearly two years exploring and developing a new church model for rural congregations.
“Too many church pastor vacancies and not enough seminary graduates meant we needed to think outside the box,” said Bill Norden, member of the Exploration Team. “What we have put into place relies on a ministerial team of spiritual people that coordinate their schedules to fill the pulpit and pastor role at churches that want to join our Rural Unified Ministry Covenant. More churches are welcome.”
The Whalens lead worship at Trinity Evangelical in Manlius at 9 a.m. on the first and third Sunday of each month and at Ohio First Lutheran at 9:30 a.m. the second and fourth Sundays. They mentor a team of worship leaders who lead services when they are not present allowing for each church to have worship every Sunday.
“We have enjoyed the relationships that we have built with both congregations and their respective communities and look forward to building on those relationships,” said Jeff and Lori Whalen. “We are excited to be a part of this new model in church leadership and share what we learn with other congregations that find themselves in the same situation.”
