Our Pastor

Pastor Karl Hess is a native of the Chicago area, growing up in the cornfields that used to be there.  He spent his college years in the Northwest at the University of Washington in Seattle, only to return to the Midwest for seminary at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then to pastor a congregation in the Chicago suburbs.  His wife Angela, however, is a native Oregonian who grew up in Coos Bay and missed the state desperately during their years in Illinois.  They have one son, Joseph.

Pastor Hess received a degree in English with a creative writing emphasis in 2001, and his master’s degree in divinity in 2006.  He has published an article in historical theology and translated some hymns and prayers from German.  His first congregation was in an inner city, and he is passionate about exploring and teaching the mysteries of the Christian faith to the next generation, as well as communicating the treasures of the ancient Christian faith to a generation that in many respects has not been introduced to Jesus Christ.

Pastor Hess enjoys poetry and music, and also the outdoors, although he knows a lot less about the latter than the former.  He is glad to live in a state with mountains and blue skies, and serve a congregation that is eager to receive Christ’s gifts.