This article appeared in the Greene Recorder, the local weekly newspaper here in Greene, Iowa. Full text below the picture.
Thank you to the Greene Recorder and to Sylvia Hawker for the great article!
“I was very happy to get to my first week of leading worship,” Pastor Daniel Flucke said, soon after leading the three services the congregation has each weekend. “I’ll get more comfortable, and the people will get more comfortable with me.”
“During this transition time, I appreciate everyone’s patience as I get started,” Pastor Daniel said. “I look forward to our working together as the body of Christ.”
Pastor Daniel and his wife Christin were in his office at St. Peter Lutheran Church for this interview, and both were speaking warmly and positively about being at St. Peter, his first “call” since graduating from seminary, and about Greene and the other churches in the community.
“We’re excited to be in a small town with many churches,” he said. “We were here during Vacation Bible School and enjoyed seeing so many kids from different churches taking part. We’re happy about the good cooperation among the churches.”
Pastor Daniel’s first worship service at St. Peter was on Saturday, July 16. He was present with a cake in honor of his birthday, which was the same day, and it was enjoyed by all who were there.
“Following Jesus gives me hope for our world and purpose for my life,” Pastor Daniel said, reflecting on his life so far, and his ministry in Greene. “I believe God is calling me to walk with people in their lives, and to point out God’s presence in the midst of all the challenges and joys of life.”
“I’ve felt a call to ministry in the church since high school,” he said. “I love serving in the church and being part of a church community. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I hope to point people to Jesus, the evidence of God’s love for us and for the world.”
Pastor Daniel and Christin celebrated his Ordination at Ascension Lutheran Church in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the home congregation of them both, on Sunday, July 10, along with family members and friends.
“Ascension Lutheran was a mission congregation, that was started in 1989 when the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) started,” Pastor Daniel said. “I was the youngest charter member of the church.”
“It was really special to me that my pastor, the Rev. Jeff Blain, preached the sermon at my Ordination,” Pastor Daniel said. “He had also confirmed and married Christin and me.”
Bishop Steven Ullestad of Waverly, Bishop of the Northeast Iowa Synod, performed the Ordination Rite.
“It was very exciting to get to the point of Ordination, following four years of college and four years of seminary,” Pastor Daniel said. “It was both a welcome and a send-off from my home congregation.”
Daniel Flucke, son of Mark and Sheila Flucke of Fond du Lac, and Christin Ferch, daughter of Craig and Cindy Ferch of Bonduel, WI (about the size of Greene, she said), grew up worshipping in the same church, started dating in high school, and attended Luther College in Decorah at the same time — he majoring in Religion and Computer Science, and she majoring in Religion and Sociology, both graduating in May 2012.
The two were married two months later at Ascension Lutheran.
Pastor Daniel said he had thought about being a pastor since high school and was keeping his options open during college. Working at a church camp near Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for two summers during college and being involved in College Ministries at Luther helped him to recognize a call to be a pastor.
“I had a good experience leading worship, working with kids, talking about Jesus,” Pastor Daniel said, “and that helped clarify my call to ministry.”
After getting married, he and Christin headed for Dubuque, Iowa, where he attended Wartburg Seminary from the fall of 2012 to the spring of 2016, while Christin substitute taught in the Dubuque School District and worked as a youth ministry director at Lena United Methodist Church, and a summer at Camp EWALU, a Lutheran camp, where she deepened her passion for working with youth.
Pastor Daniel said he learned a great deal at seminary from all his teachers and instructors, and also from his classmates, in the areas of preaching, pastoral care, worship, and children and youth. The couple said they lived in a nice apartment building on campus while in seminary.
Pastor Daniel received his Master of Divinity Degree on May 15 and was assigned to the Northeastern Iowa Synod. He was interviewed by the Call Committee at St. Peter as part of the church’s call process. The call was issued and accepted, and Pastor Daniel and Christin moved to Greene the end of June. They returned to Fond du lac for his ordination July 10, and started officially in Greene July 12.
“We received a very warm welcome,” they said. “We had lots of wonderful help moving in and it went much smoother and easier than we ever thought it would, thanks to all the good help!”
“The parsonage is beautiful,” Pastor Daniel said. “We can tell the congregation has put in a lot of effort keeping it up, and it shows!”
On Sunday, July 17, Pastor Daniel commissioned youth and adults for a Luther League trip to Sky Ranch in Colorado that began the following Saturday night. “Mission trips were very important in the formation of our faith,” Pastor Daniel and Christin said, and she has enjoyed leading church trips with her previous congregation.
Christin said she is excited there are a lot of kids and youth in the congregation. “I have a passion and background in working with youth, and I look forward to finding ways to get involved here with ministries like Luther League and helping with confirmation.”
“We like getting out and meeting people in our congregation as well as in the community,” the couple said. They enjoyed attending the firemen’s picnic on the 3rd of July and being downtown in Greene (Ridiculous Day).
“We’re excited there is a river — we both like canoeing and will be planning a canoeing trip soon.They are also looking forward to getting a dog.
Pastor Daniel and Christin are optimistic about St. Peter and Greene, about their ministry and faith. “We keep hearing the message that the world is changing and that the church is in decline,” Pastor Daniel said, “but people are asking religious questions today, maybe more than ever. I believe the world’s hope is in Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and God loves the world enough to personally come and die for it. I want the church to be a safe place for people to explore the big questions of life together.”
Pastor Daniel will be formally installed as pastor at St. Peter during the 9:00 worship service on Sunday, August 7.