St. John welcomes a new pastor

St. John Lutheran Church welcomes The

Rev. Steven Thomas to its congregation and to Libby.

“I accepted the call,” Thomas said.

After Thomas received a call to notify

him about a possible position in Libby last spring, the Montana

district for Lutheran pastors considered 12 candidates before

church members chose him.

Thomas said his alma mater is in

Columbia Falls, Mont., making this transition to Libby easier.

“Libby is like coming back home,”

Thomas said.

Thomas, his wife Lisa and children

Caleb, Bethany and Aaron moved to Libby in June from Lamar,

Colo.

“We (church) have about 100 members,”

Thomas said. “This congregation is larger than the last

church.”

Before obtaining his masters at

seminary in 1999 from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., Thomas

attended Concordia University in Portland, Ore. until 1995.

A painful, personal experience at 16

years old led Thomas to question the existence of God.

“I went from church to church asking

the same questions,” Thomas said.

The Lutheran church could not tell

Thomas “if there was a God, why do bad things happen?” However,

they gave him comfort by teaching him about the grace of God.

After 23 years as a Lutheran and now a

reverend in the Libby community, Thomas said humbly “I hope the

church congregation is receptive to my teachings.”

The St. John’s Lutheran Church is

located at 1017 Montana Ave. in Libby.

Worship services are Sundays at 10:30

a.m.

For more information call 293-4024