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The Reverend Michael Wilker has been called to lead First Lutheran Church in Decorah. He will begin his service January 18th. Pastor Wilker grew up on a hog farm near Owatonna, Minnesota. After graduating from St. Olaf College, he volunteered in Chicago with Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC), and then served on the LVC staff in Washington, D.C. for three years. He discerned his call to ordained ministry while in D.C. and then attended Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. Pastor Wilker served bilingual (Spanish/English) congregations in both California and New York, and then in 2005 returned to Lutheran Volunteer Corps to serve as its President and Executive Director. In 2011, he accepted the call to serve as Senior Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, D.C. He and his wife—Elgin native and Luther College graduate Judy Kittleson—look forward to returning to the Midwest. Call committee chairperson, Greg McGohan, said that the congregational vote to call Rev. Wilker was unanimous. "We feel enormously blessed to have Pastor Mike joining us," McGohan said. "His experience, leadership gifts, and pastoral heart will enrich the ministry God is calling us to do in this community," he added. First Lutheran Church, established in 1863, is a congregation of the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its mission, rooted in the Gospel of God's grace, is to be a community of worship, witness, and spiritual growth in ecumenical service to God and God's people. For more information about First Lutheran's worship services and programs go to https://firstlutherandecorah.org.

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First Lutheran Church calls new senior pastor