"There's a deep sadness, but also this incredible life in them. They love living in that area and the subsistence that is necessary to live there."John has been an ordained pastor for over 35 years in the ELCA. He was raised in a small town in Eastern WA surrounded by bountiful farmland nurtured by the immigrants who came there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, made up of ethnic Germans who had lived in Russia. John attended Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas receiving a BA in Theology and completed his MDIV at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. He has served congregations in PA, MD, ID, WA and now AK, mostly as a regularly called pastor, but has done four interims, including Shishmaref, AK. He has been actively involved in social justice issues, traveling to South Africa/Namibia during the Apartheid regime. He has marched and spoken at events calling for justice. He was once arrested at the South African Embassy in DC along with 80 other Lutherans. He lived in Holden Village for over a year before, during, and after the Wolverine Fire. John has a passion for writing and speaking truth to power and the Gospel.To learn more about Holden Village, visit: www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.orgTo contact the podcast author, podcast@holdenvillage.org
