Matt Kruse is Lake Park’s new Vicar, another name for a seminary student who will spend the next year here serving and learning about the gifts and exciting opportunities for daily ministry in a congregation and discovering more about himself as a “Person in Ministry!”

Matt is a proud Minnesotan, and grew up in a small, rural prairie town filled with God-fearing Scandinavian Lutherans (not that much unlike Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon!).  Matt migrated to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he earned a degree in Religion and Economics from Augustana College.  In his wide range of experiences, he has spent time as a radio announcer and DJ, camp counselor, book stocker, and a voice coach.  Matt followed God’s call for his vocation to seminary at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.  He returns there in 2010 for a final year of study.

Matt enjoys spending time collecting books about theology, American culture, and other trivial topics.  He possesses a passion for many varieties and styles of music and often finds himself in the back row of a choir.  He also enjoys a fierce game of racquetball, attempting to find consistency with his golf game, and playing pick-up softball.  A fan of most sports, Matt especially looks forward to weeks when he can head to Miller Park and watch his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals!  Matt also spends time with his academic passion – the Hebrew bible, and is working on completing a book discussing I and II Samuel to be published in the fall of 2010.

Along with poetry and art films, Matt enjoys voices and perspectives that allow him to understand the complexity of human existence and the reality of life’s narratives. By spending time and sharing interaction with the people of Lake Park, he looks forward to hearing the congregation’s own stories–filled with pure joy and excitement, pain and distress, interesting plot twists, unexpected blessings, and hope for the future–and sharing the greatest narrative of all: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you would like to get to know Matt better, be it with a beverage, a snack, or a song, feel free to contact him at matt@lakeparklutheran.com.