An unlikely path to ministry
At Luther House of Study, we have made significant efforts to ensure that our seminary program is accessible to students, despite roadblocks they might face related to time, money or academic experience.
Lucas Kinser is a May 2024 graduate of our program, who was ordained in June 2024 and serves as the executive pastor at Faith Community Lutheran Church in Longmont, Colorado.
His path to seminary was an unlikely one, and we recently spoke with him about the ways LHOS supports students spiritually, academically and personally to find success.
We’re grateful for Lucas’ ministry and his willingness to share his experience. Check out our full conversation below!
Tell us about yourself and your path to ministry.
I grew up in a single-parent home. My dad wasn’t around a lot growing up, and he wasn’t a Christian, so I always struggled with this idea of God as our father. I really felt like God had abandoned me.
I wrestled with my faith and struggled with a lot of things in the early part of my life, but even though I never really felt like God loved me, I always went to youth group, and my youth pastors were always telling me I’d be a pastor someday. I never believed them.
After high school, I went to a small Bible college in Canada, but I didn’t go to study the Bible; I only went because my best friend from high school was going there, which wasn’t a smart decision. I failed every class, and it wasn’t a great year, but I ended up meeting a country musician who hired me to be his tour manager, and I left to travel all over the country with him.
After about a year of that, another failed attempt at getting a degree, and a series of short-term dead-end jobs. I saw that a church in my community was looking for a worship person. I had no ministry experience and was the last of ten people to interview for the position, but I was hired on the spot after playing one song for them.
I worked under the youth pastor who paid me cash out of pocket to be there. He just wanted me there, and I worked with him for about three years. He poured into me, and it was a life-changing experience. I got an opportunity no one should have given me, working in a Presbyterian church. I had grown up Covenant (Swedish Lutheran) but didn’t really know anything about Lutheran theology, so later I took a job at another Presbyterian church. After that, I found this Lutheran church out in Colorado, and even though I didn’t know anything about Lutheranism, they were willing to hire me as their youth director. That’s how I ended up here at Faith Community.
How did you first get connected to Luther House of Study?
I’m one of those people who had already been in ministry for 12 or 13 years by the time I got started with LHOS. I had no college education — I failed the only college I tried — and teachers all my life had told me I wasn’t smart and I wouldn’t be successful. The way I saw it, I was already working in ministry, so why did I need a piece of paper to prove anything?
However, a member from our church who had moved to Arizona happened to email me randomly at the beginning of COVID. He said, “I don’t know why I keep thinking of you, but there’s this seminary in Sioux Falls I think you should look into. It’s tailor-made for someone like you.” I told him I’d check it out. My lead pastor here had been encouraging me for 10 years or so. He’d say, “You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for,” but I kept blowing it off until I was stuck at home during the pandemic.
I called Sarah Stenson, and I still remember that initial conversation. I said, “Hey I’m Lucas, I work at this Lutheran church, but here’s the thing: I’m not Lutheran, I don’t want to be Lutheran, I just want to be a Christian pastor. I don’t want to be boxed in, so I’m debating just going through the Kairos program, and not doing the Luther House stuff at all.” I think I even asked her if my diploma would say Kairos or LHOS when I graduated.
Sarah handled it great — I think she even made the joke that Lutherans believe in a lot more grace, so academically, I might like them better.
I got started, and about a month into the Reformation class, I just remember all these lightbulbs going off in my head. It was life-changing. It was what I needed to hear my entire life.
So finally I said, “Okay fine, I’ll be Lutheran.”
What have been some of the greatest lessons or takeaways from your time with LHOS?
I had always misunderstood Lutheran theology. I’d walk into different churches thinking good works were how I’d be saved. Every time there was an altar call, I raised my hand or went forward, but I never felt I was good enough. I wrestled with whether God loved me, or if I’ve done enough to earn his love.
Essentially, I felt like I got into ministry to make up for all the bad things I did in my life — like if I just did enough good, maybe then God would love me.
When I took the Reformation class, I learned about Martin Luther, who wrestled with those same questions of, “Am I righteous enough?” and “Have I done enough?” I got to read about his life and what drove him to the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone. Faith isn’t something I earn, but that God gives to me. I was relearning the definition of grace — that it’s not a substance I get more or less of, but God’s disposition of favor to a sinner like me. The class completely redefined all these words I thought I knew.
I distinctly remember when Chris and Sarah explained faith as a gift; that was so impactful to me. Even in terms of the Sacraments, my whole life I had always thought Baptism was something you do when you believe you’re ready. When I understood that Baptism is something God does — a promise he makes to us — that wrecked me. I realized it’s not a one-time thing that happens when you’re a baby, but a promise I can cling to every day of my life. Whenever I doubt or have anxiety, I can look back and remember I’m baptized — a chosen, forgiven child of God.
For someone who wrestled with these ideas of grace and whether or not God loves me, to understand that theology of justification by faith in Christ was a game-changer.
How did the structure of Luther House make it possible for you to pursue your degree?
Luther House meets every student where they’re at, spiritually, academically and personally. They accepted me and cared enough to challenge and encourage me. I remember, about a month in, Chris and Sarah both emailing me and saying, “You’re doing great. You’ve got this.”
The encouragement and personal relationship that they develop with students is powerful — like the fact that I could call Chris, my faculty mentor, any day of the week, and he’d take a phone call to help me process questions and doubts. It’s academically challenging, but it’s presented in a way that gives someone like me hope.
I had never written a college paper in my life, but they gave me confidence early on that I could do it. It’s not about writing the best paper, it’s about understanding the content, and they make it easy to understand.
The thing is, if you can get through the Reformation class, you can get through anything else. That was important because going through that class really made the rest of the experience exciting for me. You just get captured by the Reformation and the theology of the cross.
I think, for me, there was also the fact that everything is tailor-made to your experience in life. For someone like me with two kids, working as the executive pastor at the church, as a chaplain with the police department, and doing funerals for different funeral homes constantly, I didn’t have a lot of time for a structured setup. I was able to do it on my own time, at my own pace, and also incorporate what I do in my daily life and ministry. That made it very accessible and manageable, because I wasn’t having to write a sermon for LHOS and a sermon for my church every week, I was able to just use the same sermon.
Overall, no matter what your previous educational experience has been like, they work with you, they encourage you and they give you the confidence to keep going.
How has your LHOS education strengthened your ministry? How does LHOS continue to support you?
It’s given me more confidence in my pastoral care. I’ve been a police chaplain for over ten years, and I think at first, I felt like I didn’t need this education because I’ve been doing the work every day for years. But what I learned from LHOS about pastoral care has made that job so much easier. It’s not about relying on certain words that I think I need to say to people; I just give them the promise, and I can physically see how it impacts their lives. You don’t have to come up with fancy words, you just remind them of God’s promise and remind them of their baptism. That’s been a game-changer.
I still talk to Chris probably once a month. I got to see them again at the LCMC conference in October. They came out to Colorado to do my ordination, and they have developed a relationship with my church.
We use the LHOS confirmation program now, which has been fantastic. We hadn’t done much in the way of teaching foundational theology in probably ten years, but now because of people seeing the excitement and change in me through my seminary experience, they’ve fallen in love with LHOS’ resources like the confirmation program. It’s an incredible resource for our students, but also for the parents because they can check it out online.
I also appreciate that all the videos are available online, so I can go back anytime and reference something I learned four years ago. You just pull it back up and have a 15 minute-long refresher at your fingertips.
We’re grateful for the opportunity to serve pastors like Lucas through our program, from the time they get started as students, to years after they graduate as colleagues.
If you’ve felt a calling to ministry but aren’t sure how to make seminary fit into your life, we’d love to have a conversation. Our supportive, online model makes earning your degree not only possible, but manageable alongside other commitments like family, work or financial obligations.
Ready to get started? Reach out to our community coordinator, Deirdre Lapp, to begin the conversation.
