Introductions

            We have been asked by Bishop Katherine Finegan and your Congregation Council to be your Administrative Interim beginning July 17. We are Pastor Christine Thomas-Echelbarger and Pastor David Echelbarger. We retired in 2017 and returned to the U.P. in 2019. We have served the same congregations as full-time pastors for our entire career, except for 5 years when we were one and a-half time in a congregation.

Our congregations have been: St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Waukesha, Wisconsin for 8 years; St. James Lutheran Church in Marinette, Wisconsin for 5 years, where Pastor David also was a therapist and office manager of Lutheran School Services in Marinette; Immanuel Lutheran Church in Negaunee for 16 years; and Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, near Racine, for 9 years.

Pastor David once served as Bethany’s Interim Pastor until Pastor Lee was called many years ago.

 We are completely enjoying our retirement and our return to the U.P. We are active members of Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette.

Let us explain our role as an Administrative Interim. 

The pastoral office at Bethany is vacant which means we will not be your Called Pastors. We will, however, serve the function of providing a Word and Sacrament Ministry. This means we will do our best to have supply pastors lead your worship services. We also will supply preach at Bethany as there is need. If the occasion arises that none of the above are available, lay leaders from the synod will provide a Service of the Word (with no communion).

We also will be a resource to committees, attend, as possible, Church Council meetings, write a monthly newsletter piece, and be sure Bethany’s church records are in good order.

As an Administrative Interim we will not: be “on call” or provide pastoral services such as funerals, hospital calls, weddings or respond to personal requests for aid.

These needs will be served by Pastor Steven Solberg who will be “on call” and provide pastoral care as needed.

We are being compensated for the services we provide. No compensation, however, will go to us, but will be sent directly to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and designated for the Pastor Christine Thomas-Echelbarger and Pastor David Echelbarger Seminary Scholarship Fund. We established and funded this scholarship several years ago. Providing financial assistance to those preparing to be pastors is near and dear to our hearts, as we are sure it is for you too, since you need a pastor.

We join your prayers, that your congregation will be provided with a pastor as soon as possible and help lead Bethany into the future God desires.

In the meantime, this will be a new journey for you – a wilderness time, a time to reflect on the congregation you are and who God is calling you to become.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Christine Thomas-Echelbarger

Pastor David Echelbarger