April Ulring Larson to Begin as Interim Pastor on November 8-9

Pastor April Ulring Larson will officially become the Interim Pastor at Good Shepherd  during the weekend of November 8-9, 2014, and will serve in this capacity until a permanent pastor is called.  She has been in ordained ministry for thirty-six years. She has served in diverse settings, from rural parishes to fulfilling her three-term limit as Bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod where she was elected as the first woman bishop in the ELCA. Pr. Larson has served on several major boards including the board of Lutheran World Relief for eight years, the Board of Regents of Luther College for sixteen years, and the executive committee of the ELCA Conference of Bishops. She recently retired after serving as senior pastor of First Lutheran Church, Duluth, MN.  Pr. Larson attended Luther College for two years, then transferred to the University of Iowa where she earned a B.Mus, degree. She received an honorary doctorate from Luther College.  She and her husband, Luther grad Rev. Judd Larson, both earned their M. Div. degrees from Wartburg Theological Seminary. They were ordained together in February, 1978. They are the parents of three children, all Luther graduates.  Their twin daughters, Katie and Amy, are both physicians.  Their son, Benjamin, died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake in his last year of seminary.

A welcome reception for Pr. Larson will be held in conjunction with the annual W/ELCA Soup Luncheon and Country Store event immediately following the Sunday service in the Fellowship Hall.  At that time, special thanks will also be extended to our supply pastors who have been invited as honorary guests.

The liturgical color for this service is red which is used to note a special occasion in the life of the congregation – the beginning of Pr. April‘s ministry with us.  It is displayed in the altar and pulpit paraments, woven by our member Barbara Berg, and the gates in the weavings on the sanctuary wall.  The chancel flower arrangement is placed in honor of this occasion and as a gift for the Larson home by the Altar Guild, Welcome Committee and congregation.