An interim pastor recently began serving the Vashon Lutheran Church and will focus his efforts on readying the congregation for a new full-time minister.
Pastor Tim Wolbrecht, who works solely on an interim basis, said he preached his first sermon at the church on Sunday. His assignment at the church follows the departure last fall of Bjoern Meinhardt, after the congregation voted to have him resign as pastor in September. Wolbrecht said he was appointed by the bishop, as is the common procedure whenever there is a vacancy in churches that are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Now, Wolbrecht said, he will work with parishioners on both procedural and personal matters at the church in this time of transition.
“We’ll be dealing with challenges and moving on,” he said.
Wolbrecht is a licensed mental health counselor, he noted, and he sometimes calls upon those skills in his work with congregations. His contract with the Vashon Lutheran Church is open ended, but typically interim pastors remain in congregations from 18 months to two years.
Wolbrecht works at the church Tuesdays through Thursdays and will continue to preach on Sundays.
So far while he has been on Vashon, people have been gracious and welcoming, he said, even cleaning up and furnishing the parsonage, where he stays when he is on the island.
Wolbrecht is married and lives in Redmond and is a father of three grown children.
In addition to serving as an interim pastor himself, he trains other interim ministers and rabbis for the Interim Ministry Network.
Meanwhile, Meinhardt, who was with the Vashon church for nine years, recently accepted a position at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He hopes to begin there next month, he said, and when his daughter completes the school year, his wife, Lynn Meinhardt, and daughter will join him there.
The congregation he will be heading offers two services each Sunday, he said, one in German and one in English. Meinhardt, who is from Germany, will preach at both services.
His family recently visited the church, braving the -40 degree temperatures, which, Meinhardt said, were countered by the warmth of the people.
“It was a friendly welcome,” he added.
