Pastor Debra Schowengerdt
When Debra was an MDiv student, she wrote her theology paper on the importance of the priesthood of all believers, and the value of people being equipped to minister, not just be consumers in their congregations. During her formation at MI, she and her husband, Ron, prepared to move to the Upper Peninsula to serve in church and out in the community. Now they have been living and serving there for a couple of years, and the passion God gave Debra for equipping others is coming to fruition!
Debra was ordained and called to a little country church (see picture) alongside a community of believers who feel like family and all participate. The members lead in the church, Wainola Lutheran, and in the community as deputy, nurse, emergency response workers, etc. Debra sees her and the other pastors’ roles as teachers and shepherds to support their growth in their faith, because church members will be “placed in situations that they need to know and communicate the hope that is in them.”
This church meets a couple of times per month so as to leave room for other community engagement. Debra and Ron have started inviting people into their home for Sunday evening “Afire.” (see image). They reach out to people in Atlantic Mine, like the waitress who said she can’t take Sunday mornings off, Christians who are looking to live more into their giftings, or people who have been estranged from the church but may come to worship in a friendly home.
MI staff member Leah Lehner comments on Debra’s new home church: “I can imagine this home church around the fireplace in the Schowengerdt living room. Debra led me and other staff and students in one of the most beautiful and intimate communion services I have experienced. I found it amazing that during the pandemic when we needed to worship through zoom, the way Debra taught, led sharing in small groups, and led us in communion made it easy to connect to Jesus and our brothers and sisters in Christ in an authentic way.”
