Holy Cross installs “new” pastor Jonathan Zielske
GLENWOOD CITY – Holy Cross Lutheran Church installed Pastor Jonathan Zielske as their new term pastor On March 4, 2018. The Reverend John Sutherland, assistant to the bishop performed the rite of installation. Pastor Jonathan has been serving as Holy Cross’ interim pastor since last March.
The Journey to Holy Cross
Previous to serving as Holy Cross’ interim, Pastor Jonathan, who lives in St. Paul was filling in, “very part time” as he says, at a Presbyterian church in southern Minnesota. Looking to make a change and get back to an ELCA Lutheran church, Pastor Jonathan called Pastor John Sutherland who he knew from seminary and knew that he worked as the assistant to the bishop of the Northwest Synod of WI. Pastor Sutherland told him of a couple of regular calls that were further away and about this interim call that was coming up in Glenwood. After consulting a map and figuring that the commute wouldn’t be too bad, he was interviewing a week later at Holy Cross. The interview went well and after giving his 30 day notice to the Presbyterians he was at Holy Cross.
Pastor Jonathan said his first weeks here were a real whirlwind. A bit of baptism by fire as his first week here he preached Sunday, Monday evening, Tuesday at Glenhaven and then Wednesday was doing the Holden Evening Prayer for Lenten service. Pastor Jonathan was happy with his new “church” saying it was delightful seeing so many in attendance for a midweek service. He goes on to say that it felt like coming home after serving in the Presbyterian Church.
Term Pastor
Originally Pastor Jonathan had no intentions of staying at Holy Cross. He was here to help the congregation transition from one pastor to the next. However when the call process started at Holy Cross, he realized that things were going really well and that perhaps he would like to extend his time here, thus the term call. “The people in the community won me over.”
In explaining a term call, Pastor Jonathan said that it just means it is for a specified term, in this case 18 months. Term calls aren’t common but he didn’t want to over commit. Keeping this going for a while gives both parties an out and they can evaluate how things are going after 18 months. He said it’s kind of like a lease with an option to buy.
Glenwood City
When asked what he liked about Glenwood City, Pastor Jonathan stated “I like the small town values but it doesn’t feel overly parochial.” He loved the kids showing him around the county fair and the Rustic Lore parade. He likes these cross generational activities and that it’s the kind of place “where everybody knows your name”. He feels a genuine warm hospitality in Glenwood, especially when he goes over to the school to read to the kids or to Glenhaven to visit with the residents and staff.
Holy Cross
As for Holy Cross, he likes that there is a diversity of ages amongst the leaders of the church. He likes the involvement of parents, especially with the confirmation students. He goes on to say that the senior high youth has had a great revitalization due to the leaders and parents. He’s also happy with how well he’s gotten along with the staff. He feels an overall welcoming and accepting spirit at Holy Cross
Asked if he had any goals for Holy Cross, Pastor Jonathan said to have a retreat with the church council to say what our goals are (the retreat is planned for later this month). He continues by saying that he would like to increase our public voice and have the church be more justice minded. He would like to see the church take some risks. He states that being the church in the 21st century we need to put ourselves out there as people of faith, especially with our young people.
He hopes by doing an intentional inreach with the congregation, by getting to know each other better, we then will be better equipped to reach out to the community. He feels we will then be able to have deeper conversations about our hopes and dreams and realities and show others that we are also broken. He wants people to know that the church should be a place of mercy and welcome for everyone. Pastor Jonathan continues by saying “Glenwood City and the ELCA together are a really well kept secret to the broader people of this area.” He would like to figure out ways to lift that up. Jesus himself always drew a circle of fellowship wider than his closest followers; welcoming the sinners and outcast.
Pastor Jonathan
As stated previously Pastor Jonathan lives in St. Paul but is actually a native of Wisconsin having been born in Green Bay. However he has spent most of his life in Minnesota. He attended Concordia, Moorhead for three years before transferring and graduating from North Park College in Chicago. He then went on to seminary at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. After his first year there he married his high school sweetheart, Anne. They moved back to Minnesota for his first call and have been there since. Together they have three daughters: twins, Micah and Rachael who are freshman at Gustavus Adolphus, and LeighAnna who is a junior at Central High School in St. Paul. Pastor Jonathan is passionate about doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God along with running, collecting baseball cards, watching the Twins, playing soccer, camping and hiking with his family, trying to golf and being outdoors.
