Our Pastors
Rev. Anthony T. BertramIn the name of Jesus!
I have been a pastor at St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church and School since 2006. God has blessed me with Deb, my wife, mother of our children, Grace and Sasha (Alexander). I have served God as a pastor since 1989, in St. Cloud first and then Litchfield, Minnesota, before coming to Fairmont. I am the son of an LCMS pastor, who was a missionary to Taiwan where I was born, and a Lutheran school teacher. Wherever God has called me to serve, I am always amazed at the loving and supporting people in His Church. I give thanks for the faithful and dedicated pastor, teachers, and staff here at SPL and the privilege to serve God and these people with them. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV) |
Rev. Michael HolmenAfter graduating from college Michael taught for a year in South Korea. He received as a gift C. F. W. Walther’s The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel. Reading this book convinced him of the need for preachers who preached the Law with all of its severity and the Gospel with all of its graciousness. When he arrived back in the United States he began to prepare to become a pastor.
Michael graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary-Fort Wayne in 2010. His first call was to serve the congregations of Our Redeemer and Peace in Independence and Oelwein Iowa. The twelve years he served these congregations were blessed with much joy and contentment. Michael was born in Albert Lea, MN. He grew up on a family farm near Conger. He is happy to be “back home.” He is a reluctant vacationer. He considers the verdant farmlands of the Midwest to be the best place to be. He doesn’t understand why anyone would want to be anywhere else. Jana, his wife, was born in South Korea. She was adopted when she was almost 8 years old by a pastor’s family. She was raised in Wisconsin. Their daughter, Edith, has been homeschooled but is eager to begin a new chapter of her education. The whole family welcomes the new adventures, friendships and work that await them here at St. Paul, Fairmont. |
Faithful Servants of St. Paul Lutheran
1875-1883 - Rev. H. J. Mueller
1884-1889 - Rev. Theodore Maesse 1890-1891 - Rev. H. Dahlke 1891-1903 - Rev. Leonard F. Frey 1903-1945 - Rev. Otto H. Zemke 1945-1967 - Rev. Otto F. Krause 1959-1963 - Rev. Park G. Frederick 1967-1983 - Rev. Vernon H. Harley |
1974-1976 - Rev. Donavon R. Huwe
1977-1981 - Rev. Steven C. Briel 1982-1999 - Rev. Douglas K. Janetzke 1983-1988 - Rev. Samuel B. Reith 1989-1991 - Rev. Gregory J. Schultz 1992-2005 - Rev. Roger G. Abernathy 2000 - 2022 - Rev. Thomas E. Fast 2006 - Present - Rev. Anthony T. Bertram 2023 - Present - Rev. Michael Holmen |