Interim Minister Placed At Salem Lutheran

Pastor Sonja Johnson was installed as Salem Lutheran Church’s interim minister this month, continuing her 11-year ministry of serving churches while they search for pastors. While her new assignment is open-ended, Johnson says the search usually takes about a year.

Her job is to help the churches she serves evaluate where they have been and where they want to go so they know what kind of pastor they are looking for. It’s a lot of work, she says.

But it can be hard to spend such brief periods of time in a church. “It’s mixed. Saying hello and saying goodbye every year is sad. I love it and yet I miss them, and then I go on to another place.”

Her job as a pastor began innocently enough. After spending 19 years as a medical technologist, Johnson found herself wanting to learn more about her profession. She took a two-year sabbatical from her job and went to the seminary, but not with the intention of becoming a pastor.

Johnson says she was interested in medical ethics from a theological point of view and also wanted to learn Greek, so she enrolled in the Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. She ended up staying longer than planned.

Lidgerwood Neighborhood Round-up

The community is invited to come to the Lidgerwood Neighborhood Round-up, sponsored by the Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church, on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. There will be fun games for kids, door prizes, an old car show, and live entertainment. Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be served.

The free event will be held at the church, located at 4449 N. Nevada.