Meet Heidi Johns, our Interim Pastor

Welcome our Interim Pastor, Heidi Johns
 
We are pleased to welcome Pastor Heidi Johns, who has accepted the call to serve as our Interim Pastor at Resurrection starting this week. Pastor Johns has a strong commitment to guiding congregations through periods of transition. We appreciate her willingness to walk alongside our community during this season, providing spiritual leadership, care, and consistency as we prepare for the next chapter in our church’s journey.

Greetings in the name of Christ, Resurrection Lutheran Church!
 
I am looking forward to beginning my service as your Interim Pastor on July 16, 2025. To help us get to know each other, I have been asked to share some information about myself. I grew up in Wakefield, a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, not too far from the shores of Lake Superior. I am a lifelong Lutheran. When I was in high school, my Pastor asked if I had ever considered going into the ministry. That question stirred something in me.
 
I graduated from Concordia College (ELCA) in Moorhead, MN, with a degree in Social Work and then attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. I was ordained in 1991 and have served churches in rural North Dakota, Milwaukee, WI, and Glen Ellyn, IL. In 2014, I received a call as Lead Pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cincinnati. I retired from that call in May of 2022. 
 
In June of 2021, I married Chris Schaefer, a retired attorney, who worked as an Assistant Prosecutor for Hamilton County for over 40 years. After my retirement, we purchased a 26' travel trailer and have spent many weeks traveling around the U.S. visiting National Parks, Presidential Libraries, and other interesting destinations.
 
After retirement, I felt God nudging me toward new opportunities to serve in the church, and I have been blessed to work as a part-time Interim Pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Miamisburg and Epiphany in Centerville. This opportunity at Resurrection is a new blessing. The things that bring me joy in serving as Pastor include preaching, leading worship, developing relationships within the congregation, helping others find ways to use their gifts to share God’s love, encouraging others to grow in faith, and joining my faith family in serving in the community. I’m pretty good at organizing things, and love to recruit church members to help (you’ve been warned)!
 
As Resurrection continues to look to the future while discerning God’s direction, I am excited to join you in the work of listening for God’s voice and noticing what opportunities God is providing. My prayer will be that, together, we will grow closer to the God who loves us and that we will share God’s love with others. 
 
I look forward to seeing you in worship!
 
Pastor Heidi Johns
 
1 John 3:1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.