On behalf of the St. James Council Executive Team, I am pleased to introduce Pastor Walter Still, St. James Bridge Pastor. As you will see in his bio below, he is a great match for St. James. Please join us in welcoming Pastor Walter during his first worship service with us on Sunday, September 10.
Darcie Gorell-Evers
Council VP
Hello! I am looking forward to serving as the Bridge Pastor with St James beginning September 5th. A "Bridge Pastor" serves the holy time between Interim Ministry and calling/beginning of the newly called pastor. I look forward to working with the staff, leaders and faithful of St James as ministry continues as the Spirit works to call your next pastor.
The Spirit has called me to serve Christ's Church in three congregations in Pittsburgh, PA and Ft Myers, FL. In Ft Myers I was blessed to serve as the Pastor Developer and First Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church for 21 years. In the Florida Bahamas Synod I served on a number of synodical teams including the Bishop's Task Force on Sexuality and chaired the Synod's Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. Locally I worked with Jewish, Christian and Moslem leaders on Interfaith Dialogues. I was an adjunct Theology Professor of Barry University working with police, fire fighters and educators seeking degrees. I have led several study tours for Luther/Bach to Germany and the Holy Land.
My hometown is Columbus, PA, a small town in Northwestern PA. I have earned degrees at Penn State University, the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg and a Ph D in Theology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. My wife Elizabeth Spang is a professional flutist. We are blessed with two daughters and grandchildren who live in Minneapolis. I enjoy riding the bike trails around our home in St Louis Park for training for RAGBRAI--a popular bike ride across Iowa.
I retired from Peace, Ft Myers during the Covid pandemic in October 2020. In the Southeast Iowa Synod, I served over two years at St John's Lutheran Church, Des Moines as Interim Associate Pastor, Bridge Pastor and Transition Pastor with the new Senior Pastor. In the St Paul Synod, I served as Interim Lead Pastor during the sabbatical this Summer of the pastor at Prince of Peace, Burnsville.
I look forward to the exciting and surprising ways that we will celebrate Christ's ministry with all of us at St James during this "Bridge Ministry."
Pr Walter