36 Year Ministry Not In Plans

    Long-time pastors Terrill and Sara Sorensen are retiring after 36 years of serving area congregations, but neither of them grew up planning to go into ministry.
    Terrill grew up on a farm near Viborg, and he planned to be a career farmer.   Sara is a Fort Wayne, IN, native and being a pastor didn’t figure into her plans because she grew up in a Missouri Synod Lutheran church that does not allow female pastors.
    But God had different ideas.
    “I farmed until I got the call – from my banker,” laughed Terrill, who farmed for seven years.  “If it had rained and interest rates hadn’t soared, I would probably still be farming.  But when I was in confirmation my pastor asked me if I had ever thought about being a pastor.  I thought that was the last thing in the world I wanted to do, but the thought always nibbled at me.  Then when farming was not going so great, the ministry became another option.”
    For Sara the ministry was “not even on my radar since I was raised Missouri Synod.  I remember thinking about being a missionary, and when I was just out of college a couple of years a girl friend went to seminary and encouraged me to come.  I really wasn’t thinking along those lines but after I had been teaching for a couple of years I wanted out.  A friend was moving to St. Paul, MN, and needed a roommate, so I decided to go there and do whatever.  In the back of my mind I knew there was a seminary there and eventually that’s where I landed.”
    So did Terrill, and the two met their freshman year at Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Paul.  As they say, the rest is history.
    That history included a request to be sent to South Dakota after graduation, something classmates were concerned about.
    “When they posted the assignments all of our classmates turned to us and said, ‘Are you okay with that?’  It was like we just heard we had been diagnosed with cancer,” chuckled Sara.  “I think Terrill would have shriveled up somewhere else, and it’s been a great place to be.  We’ve enjoyed parish life where it’s important to preach, to visit, and to stay focused on what it’s all about and not the goofy stuff.  The people have been great and it’s just been a great quality of life.”  
    The couple’s first church was in Bristol where they served for nearly 15 years.  They answered a call from First Lutheran Church in Britton in 2003, which also included serving congregations at Pleasant Valley and Lake City. 
    In the fall of 2011, Sara began serving a congregation in Long Lake and a year later added Leola.  In January of 2020, she made a change and started serving St. John’s Lutheran in Hecla and Trinity Lutheran in Houghton.  Terrill has served the entire 21 years at First Lutheran.
    “We shared a parish, house, and income in Britton and when there were some big changes happening in the church we thought we needed to diversify a little bit,” recalled Sara.
    That big change was when First Lutheran was considering leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA) to join the Lutheran Congregation in Mission for Christ (LCMC).
    “That was a change that we really didn’t see coming,” said Terrill.  “We were so grateful that it was handled so well and had some wonderful people that led the process.  Everyone was very respectful and listened to each other, and in lots of other places it was ugly.  I’m really glad we did it and think we did the right thing.”
    Another big challenge was the COVID pandemic that basically shut down churches for a period of time.  But the bright side was the advent of First Lutheran services now being available around the world through technology.
    “I think it was the second or third weekend in March and somebody said we could livestream services, and I didn’t even know what that was,” admitted Sara.  “I still had a flip phone.”
    First Lutheran started out with a computer on a stepladder, and Sara used a “little radio station thing.”
    “If we would look back on our early livestream recordings it would probably horrify us,” Sara admitted.
    Despite the challenges and changes, a couple of things about the pastoral couple always rang true – they were very good at relating to people and enjoyed being a part of the community.
    “They are kind, understanding, compassionate, and always humble with everyone,” said First Lutheran secretary Gail O’Brien.  “They just have a down-home feeling that makes people feel very comfortable and that they are right there with us.”
    Kari Feldhaus, who serves as the youth director at First Lutheran, echoed O’Brien’s sentiments.
    “I think that one of their really big strengths is that they are just solid in their scriptural biblical foundation, yet completely sincere and just ready to be right alongside all of us and so relatable.  No, they are not saints, but we have been really, really, really blessed.”
    The two pastors are also each other’s biggest cheerleader and constructive critic.
    “Terrill is a fantastic preacher and I think part of that comes from the fact that he is so tied to this land and this part of the world,” said Sara.  “He loves the area and loves the people, and there’s a great connection there.  I think he answered the right call and fits it as well as anybody can.”
    “She preaches a wonderful sermon and is always faithful to the Gospel,” noted Terrill of his wife.  “I respect her as a pastor, and she has good theological  sense that keeps me from running amiss.  Many times I’m on the verge of doing something really stupid, and she doesn’t let me!”
    Even though they’ve been at different churches for the past 13 years, it has been a team effort.
    “We’ve enjoyed our time together,” stressed Sara.  “The last years have been different being in different churches, but that’s been good, too.  We talk a lot about what’s going on in each parish and seek each other’s advice, and quite often we would read our sermons to each other. ”
    Terrill has served longer than any other pastor in the history of First Lutheran.  The average tenure for pastors around the country is seven years.
    “I guess I wanted the record!  But I never had a reason to go.”
    And the couple, who raised two girls during that 36-year career, agreed that it has been a “pretty wonderful life.”
    “We have a deep appreciation to this community for their faithful service to the church, and it’s been fun to be active in the community.  It connects you,” said Sara.
    Final services at their respective churches for the husband-wife team were this past Sunday.  Plans are to move to Viborg in mid-June where retirement plans will be a work in progress.
    On Monday nearly 200 people gathered at the Britton Area Event Center to say goodbye that represented most of the communities that the Sorensens had served in their careers.  Friends and fellow pastors Craig and Janine Werling, who served for a number of years in Langford, talked about the influence the couple had on them and their communities.
    “Terrill and Sara are very creative and engaging teachers and two of the best pastors we have ever met,” said the Werlings.  “We will feel their loss.”
    Now, for the Sorensens, it’s on to the next chapter in life.
    “Everybody asks me what I’m going to do in retirement, and I didn’t think I had to do anything,” joked Sara.  “I’m looking forward to having a Saturday life.  So many events are tied to the weekends and we’ve always been busy preparing on Saturdays for Sunday services.  I’m also looking forward to sitting in the pew on Sunday. ”
    Terrill’s first priority will be to seed a lawn, to do some fishing, as well as “old man stuff with friends.”  He also plans to enjoy Saturday football without having to write a sermon.  The couple does not plan to completely cut their ties, however, and will be available to fill in occasionally for Viborg area Sunday services.
    Looking back on their careers that spanned nearly four decades, both pastors feel privileged to have been God’s ambassadors.
    “Christ died for us and that’s the whole thing to deliver that word and that hope, just to speak it and hopefully it lands,” concluded Terrill.  
    “The thing that stands out for me is that there are good people wherever you go and God is with you wherever you go,” added Sara.  “And we’ve seen his blessings.”