TOWER- Pastors Christina Forsythe and Sanna Reinholtzen have been installed at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tower. The church has been without full-time pastoral care since former Pastor Liz Cheney moved to Our Savior’s Lutheran in Virginia.
The change brings a chance for new growth for the congregation, as Forsythe is pastor at both Hope Lutheran Church in Embarrass and the Babbitt Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Forsythe will be leading the services on the second and fourth Sundays, and Reinholtzen on the first and third; and then they will split duties if there is a fifth Sunday in the month.
The two, who hadn’t met prior to coming to Immanuel, are both are graduates of Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Reinholtzen has served as a pastor for the past 30 years, most recently at a congregation in Berkeley, Calif. She recently moved to Lake Vermilion to help care for her 92-year-old father, Ray, who lives in a cabin on the Cook end of the lake.
Forsythe, who had been living in Ely and working as a Boundary Waters Guide before attending seminary, moved to Embarrass about four years ago, where she and her husband, who is a high school teacher, have a hobby farm with sheep, geese, ducks, and chickens. They also jointly farm at an old CSA plot with a half a dozen other area residents.
The two pastors noted they have different skill sets, but said they both complement each other, and they are confident they will work together well.
Congregation members were excited about the new energy the two are bringing to the church.
Forsythe said her joint ministry will give the churches opportunities to collaborate.
“Our hope is that this will lead to us being able to build on youth programs, bible studies, and community outreach,” she said.  “The three churches have been doing a lot in their individual silos for a long time.”
Forsythe said the move can help strengthen all three of these churches.
“What will it look like to continue to worship in our communities but also share resources and support one another and our towns more thoroughly?” she said is a question for the three congregation to consider.
The vote to hire the two women was a unanimous one, from both the church council and the congregation. Immanuel’s pews were full on Sunday, May 16, as the two pastors jointly led a service for the first time, which was followed with a brunch in the downstairs hall.
Immanuel did decide to change its worship time to 9 a.m. on Sundays, to make it possible for Forsythe to also lead worship at Hope Lutheran, where their current service time is 10:45 a.m. Babbitt Evangelical holds services at 8:30 a.m., except for the fourth Sunday, when they have community worship at 4 p.m. Starting this summer, they plan to hold outdoors services on the fourth Sunday at 4 p.m. with a potluck to follow.