Welcome Pastor Duane Salness
Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Pastor Duane O. Salness. I’ve been a Lutheran pastor since my ordination into the ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1969. I grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, located upon the fertile soil of the Red River of the North, where sugar beets are grown and processed at American Crystal Sugar Company. I graduated from Moorhead State University and Luther Seminary located in St. Paul. I served as the called pastor in five consecutive congregations in Minnesota over my first 24 years of ministry. My final permanent call was to a congregation in your Southeastern Synod, where for seven years I was pastor at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Cordova (Memphis), Tennessee.
In 1998, Marilyn and I moved to St. Paul, to be near our daughter and son, and our three grandchildren. At that time I felt God’s call to begin a new kind of pastoral work: intentional interim ministry. I was trained by the Interim Ministry Network, and have felt energized and fulfilled by these 13 years as an interim pastor. Five of the twelve congregations where I have been the interim pastor were distant from home, the last being another congregation of your Synod: Christ the King Lutheran in Norcross (Atlanta), Georgia.
I will be living in Maryville beginning the first week of January. I look forward to meeting all of you.
My office door will always be open to you: for you to share your hopes, dreams, concerns, or whatever you want me to know about yourself or about St. Paul Lutheran Church.
People in congregations going through transition and change have varying needs for nurture, assurance,
pastoral care, guidance and more. I pray that my time with you will be fruitful, that I may assist you with learning and growing in Christ and sharpening your mission in this place. The final task of my interim work here will be to help your Call Committee prepare for their search for your new permanent pastor.
I’m often asked: “How long will it take to get our new pastor?” Since we’re engaged in a spiritual journey, seeking God’s will and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, my best and only answer is: “It will take as long as it takes.” May God bless and sustain us on our journey.
