Pastor Al

Pastor Al grew up in north Minneapolis, went to St. Bridget's grade school, De La Salle high school and graduated from St. Thomas College in 1964. He married Karen Oberg in 1967. He spent eight years working as a system analyst before moving to British Colombia, where Al, Karen and Marc homesteaded for five years. He received a call from St. John's Lutheran Church, Minneapolis in 1978 to join their staff as a lay evangelist. In i980, he entered Luther Seminary, St. Paul, and graduated in 1984 with a Master's degree in ministry. That same year, he became pastor at St. John's in Stacy, and spent 20 years in that position, when he retired in 2004. He received a Doctorate of Ministry in adolescent spiritual development, 1993. He has since rejoined the staff of St. John's as Visitation Pastor. Pastor Al and Karen have one son, Marc, and four grandchildren.