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New Our Savior’s Lutheran Church pastor talks about his call to move to Albert Lea

In early January, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church installed its new pastor, Samuel Johnson. Joining him were members of his new congregation and his family.

Johnson is from a large family and grew up in the country around Nicollet. He is one of 10 children and was homeschooled throughout his childhood.

After finishing high school, Johnson completed his undergraduate work at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato and proceeded to attend Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Johnson said he always had a feeling he wanted to be a pastor.

“There were times when I kind of suppressed the desire to be a pastor, and I just thought, ‘Well, I’ll do other things.’ But there is a time when I realized I have to be serious about this, and I have to be intentional,” he said.

Johnson grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and he said he enjoyed being a part of it and agreed with what it taught. The decision was simple, then, for him to continue in the ELS as a pastor moving forward.

He completed his vicarage at a church in Arizona and then became the pastor at Abiding Word Lutheran Church in Bowling Green, Ohio.

What brought Johnson back to Minnesota was a call to become a pastor in Albert Lea in the form of a literal phone call.

“We have what is a ‘call process,’ and there’s no interview,” Johnson said. “What happens is you get a call on a random day and you hear you’re called to serve at these churches.”

He explained pastors then have a few weeks to deliberate and decide whether to take the job at the new church or stay where they are at.

Johnson said he felt he had completed the role he was supposed to fulfill at his church in Ohio, and he and his family decided to move to Albert Lea.

“It’s time to be here now,” he said.

As of publication, Johnson was still very new to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and was still unpacking things for his office and getting accustomed to his responsibilities serving his new congregation.

He said his primary job as the church’s pastor is to preach God’s Word and to administer the Sacraments. In this way, he said, serving Our Savior’s Lutheran Church is quite similar to serving the other two churches he has worked at.

Much of Johnson’s work week consists of writing sermons.

“I think that it’s important because that is the time when I connect with the most people at the church,” he said. “It’s also important because it’s God’s Word, so it needs to be accurate.”

He added he does not feel a sermon is ever really “finished,” but he tries to make all the necessary changes and edits so it can be its best version for Sunday morning.

In addition to writing sermons, Johnson also visits congregation members who are unable to come to church, helps work on the bulletin and other responsibilities that come up throughout the week.

When asked what his favorite part of Albert Lea was, Johnson said, “I love the people. I can tell this is a wonderful community to be a part of, and I’m excited to reach out and be part of the community myself.”

He said people often tell him he looks young.

“I definitely will get people saying, ‘Wow, you look really young,’ and it’s true, I look very young, but that doesn’t change that God called me here and I know what I’m doing so I find comfort in that,” Johnson said.

He said young pastors have the potential to bring fresh perspectives to the ministry and have new ideas for reaching out to the community.

He added there are also many strengths to being an older pastor as well, so there is always a mix of advantages and challenges no matter what stage a pastor is in.

Johnson said one message he wants to bring to his congregation is the importance of spiritual health.

“I think it’s important to take care of your body and your mental health, and there’s a growing awareness of mental health and how that is important for us,” he said. “But I think there’s also a growing awareness of spiritual health, and I like to talk about it like eating … We need to eat in order to stay alive. In a similar way we need to be around God’s Word and receive it for our soul to stay alive. And so a lot of what I do is help ‘feed people’ with God’s Word.”

When not working, Johnson said he enjoys spending time with his family: wife, Elisa, and daughters, Tovah, 7, and Moriah, 6. Johnson also likes jogging, reading and going camping.