John Mundinger worked most of his life as a wild- life biologist. Now as a Lay Professional Associate, he finds himself preaching and teaching—even confirmation, “which (daughter) Gretchen would tell you is an age group I have no business work- ing with,” he joked. But as a son, grandson and nephew of four uncles, all pastors, he’s in the family ministry “business,” serving St. John Lutheran Church in Helena, Mont.
KURT KELLER But dad and daughter are quick
to recognize that faith is something experienced and nurtured in com- munity, where spiritual giſts are rec- ognized and called out. It was only recently that Gretchen has come to accept that these giſts are best spent serving the church. Te realization has been “eye opening,” she said. Her dad said something similar:
“Te change that I have observed in Gretchen along the way can basically be summed up in two conversations I had with the girl.” Te first was in junior high when
she was “struggling to get comfort- able in her own skin” and declared she didn’t want to be known just for her music, he said. Te second was when he was taking her back to col- lege in Missoula and she told him, “Music is who I am.”
Gifts in dad too John received considerable nudg- ing from peers regarding the LPA program and finally enrolled. At the time there was a pastoral vacancy in his congregation, St. John Lutheran, Helena, where he was already doing a good amount of church work. He leads worship and Bible study, teaches confirmation and brings
communion to the homebound. Training—including church history, Augsburg Confession, liturgy and worship, sermon preparation and pastoral care—has added confidence and comfort in the role. Te LPA program is important in
a place like Montana, where small communities are spread over a large area, much of it rural. Some com- munities are dying and churches are struggling. Many congregations can’t afford to pay a pastor, so associates like Mundinger are a godsend. “Te underlying question for all of
us is whether we’re faithfully present and relevant in the place where God has called us to serve,” John said. “Whether it’s Metropolitan New York or rural Montana, we struggle with some of the same questions about how to be faithful, how to be relevant in a changing and unpredictable landscape. “We don’t know all of the answers
to those questions, but we do have a sense in Montana that trained lay- people have a role to play in it.” Gretchen added: “People in both
places are hungering for the gospel, hungering for something in their lives they can’t get from a self-help book, from prosperity gospel.
“Hungering for community is
especially prevalent in big urban environments. … New Yorkers tend to be more cynical. In this city of more than 8 million people (there are more people in her zip code than in her hometown growing up), when someone feels alone and isolated, they really feel it. “Outside of the boroughs is rural
New York state, and it’s not much different [from Montana]. Gone are the days that we build it and they’ll come. Montana will face that same issue soon enough.” Te trust and freedom to serve
in ministry aren’t lost on either daughter or father. “We’re both very fortunate to be in situations with bishops and clergy who want to develop lay leaders using the skill set they have, and who have been given permission to go out in the world and proclaim the gospel,” Gretchen said. “It’s a paradigm shiſt moving forward in the church.”
Author bio: Sevig is a sec- tion editor of The Lutheran.
June 2014 29
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