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Pastor Steve was born July 12, 1963 in Sioux Cinty, Iowa. He was baptized, confirmed and ordained at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sioux City. After graduating from East High in 1981, Steve entered the pre-seminary program at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, Psychology and Communication. In 1986, Steve began work on a Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He interned at Faith Lutheran Church, Green Bay, Wisconsin, and thus developed an unfortunate attachment to the Green Bay Packers..
Following graduation from seminary in 1990, Steve served as an Associate Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Napoleon, Ohio. Steve then served as an Associate Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Marshfield, Wisconsn, followed by his ministry as Senior Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Chruch in Ames. In 2002, Steve resigned from the ministry of the Lutheran Church Missiouri Synod. He was roistered with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ in June of 2006. During the interim Steve served primarily in the field of social services, working at a drug rehabilitation center for adolescents, as a family therapist for Girls and Boys Town of Iowa, and most recently as a caseworker for the Iowa Department of Human Services. Steve and his wife Lisa have 5 children between them.
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Pastor Heather Ploen is a 1995 graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. She has a B.A. with a double major in Art, and Theatre Arts. After an intense period of soul searching, she felt God's call to ordained ministry and answered. She enrolled at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN., in the fall of 1996. Her internship year was spent in northern Arizona, serving two congregations, St. John's Episcopal-Lutheran Church in Williams, and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Flagstaff. After completing her senior year, Pastor Ploen graduated in the spring of 2000, and was ordained in her home congregation, Our Savior's Evangelical Lutheran in Cedar, MN, on July 29th, 2000. She received a call to serve Immanuel Lutheran, and has enjoyed these first three years of ordained ministry.
Since her ordination, much has changed in her life. . She said "Iowa truly is a 'Field of opportunity' and 'A place to grow!'" Pastor Heather and her husband make their home in Minden, Iowa. She can also be reached by email at clrgygrl@hotmail.com.
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