Janeva Stromberg, Mora, is the interim pastor at Zion Irving Lutheran Church, rural New London, and the Harrison Community Presbyterian Church, Spicer.Stromberg started her new charge in mid-October and will serve the two congregations until a new pastor is called.
She spends three and one-half days a week in the area, using the Green Lake Bible Camp as her base of operation.
“The two small churches are unique,” Stromberg said. “They offer a special traditional ministry. The members have valuable gifts for ministry to each other. I have found the congregations warm and welcoming. They have a special outreach to people,” she added.
“Our rural churches can serve as a rock or mainstay in a consumer oriented, changing society. They welcome people and visitors feel comfortable going back,” she said.
Stromberg has been in the ministry five years. She served at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Princeton four years.
A native of Windom, she attended Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, before transferring to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. She has a master of divinity from Luther Seminary, St. Paul.
“I always had this longing to study theology and once I was in seminary, it seemed a logical step to enter the ministry. I had always done a lot of volunteering within my church,” Stromberg said.
While at Zion Irving and Harrison Presbyterian, she will do sermon preparation, hospital and home visitations, teach confirmation and attend various council meetings.
Stromberg’s husband, Donavon, operates a dairy farm. They have two daughters, a junior in high school and a student at Brown Institute.