Retiring pastor credits congregation for role in community

After several decades serving across the country, an Albert Lea pastor is retiring this week.

Curtis Zieske has been pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church since 2002 and will serve his last day on Sunday.

Aside from his work in ministry, Zieske assisted with the Albert Lea High School girls’ softball team several years ago, was a chess mentor and served on the nominations committee for the Southeastern Minnesota Synod.

“A profound word of thanks, especially to the people of Trinity, for the welcome that we have received and the support and love we have received in being part of Albert Lea,” Ziekse said.

Zieske said he became a pastor in the first place because he felt he was called — or simply compelled — to the position.

Born in New Ulm and raised in Cambridge, he said he went to Ausburg College for his undergraduate studies before attending what was then known as the Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary.

He completed an internship in Oregon and fell in love with the northwestern part of the country.

After his final year of school, he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he stayed for about two years.

He then served in McMinnville, Oregon, where he stayed for about 10 years, and Everett, Washington, where he stayed for about nine years.

Needing a sunnier climate, he moved to Security, Colorado, where he was for about nine years until Zieske said the reality of aging mothers brought him and his wife back to Minnesota.

In 2002 he received a call to serve as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, and his wife, Sonya, was hired at Albert Lea area schools.

Zieske said he has been impressed by the strong commitment of Trinity’s congregation.

“There’s been a very strong leadership commitment on the part of the staff,” he said.

The church has focused on family faith formation and has a strong and active church and youth ministry program.

He said about 200 people come to the church each Sunday.

“Good things in the church happen not because of the pastor but because of the teamwork in the congregation,” Zieske said. “The ongoing work of the congregation isn’t dependent on me, but on the leadership that’s developed and brought forth in the congregation.”

During his time as pastor in Albert Lea, he said he has learned the importance of faith and that faith is trust.

“To recognize that miraculous things, extraordinarily good things happen in the lives of people when we rely not so much on our own abilities but our trust in God working in and through us,” he said.

Eventually Zieske said he would like to return back to the West Coast, to reunite with family — one of his children lives in the Portland area, while the other lives in San Diego.

Until his full-time replacement is found, the church will have an interim pastor who will work with the church leaders. They will focus on what direction they think the congregate should take next.

There will be a reception on Sunday after the worship service at Trinity Lutheran for people to celebrate Zieske’s retirement.

 

Curtis Zieske

Age: 68

Address: 509 Crescent Circle, Albert Lea

Family: wife, Sonya, two grown children, their spouses and three grandchildren.

Occupation: retiring as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church

Interesting fact: Zieske describes himself as a huge fan of Major League Baseball, especially in the early 1960s and before.