Gerhard Michael

The son of a pastoral couple, Rev. Dr. Gerhard Michael, Jr., met his marriage and ministry partner, Joan Westlund, while he was on vicarage. In their more than 50 years of marriage, the Lord has blessed them with six healthy children, two of whom were trained as Lutheran school teachers and have married professional church workers, and one who is serving as a Lutheran pastor, whose wife is also trained as a Lutheran school teacher. The other three children are meaningfully engaged as part of the priesthood of all believers – one as an attorney serving in continuing education, another as a chemical engineer working in research and development, and the third a physical therapist serving as a professor in that area. All are involved in their local congregations. In addition, the Michaels are blessed with 18 grandchildren.

Michael has experienced the call of God’s mission in a variety of settings. Seminary field work placed him in an inner-city project; his vicarage experience was in a suburban congregation which had relocated from the inner city. His initial placement after seminary graduation was to serve as a missionary in Japan from 1965–1971, where all Christians combined amounted to 0.5% of the population. When major budget cuts kept Michael from returning to Japan after a year of furlough, he accepted a call to St. John Lutheran Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, where a high percentage of the population was Lutheran. Michael served at St. John from 1971 to 1984.

Following his service in Merrill, Michael accepted a call to a young congregation seeking to establish itself. He served at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Warner Robins, Georgia, until 1997. In Georgia, all Lutherans combined amount to 0.5% of the population. In 1997, Michael was elected as President of the Florida-Georgia District and served until 2009. During his tenure, he sought to help each of his congregations see themselves as churches in mission, with each of their members being missionaries.

From 2010 to 2015, Michael headed the Luther Institute – Southeast Asia (LISA), developing a 20-course curriculum, training pastors and teachers, deaconesses and lay leaders in the basics of the Lutheran-Christian faith. Since 2013, he has served as the missionary pastor of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Dahlonega, Georgia, seeking to help it reach out to the people of the North Georgia Mountains. Although the challenges through the years have been varied, what has been the sustaining strength of the ministry has been the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sharing the good news has been a joy and blessing.

During his tenures in Merrill and Warner Robins, Michael served as a volunteer chaplain in the local hospitals. He also served on the initial founding Board of the Merrill Adult Day Care program. In Dahlonega, he has represented the Ministerial Association on the Community Helping Place Board. In Florida he served on the Lutheran Haven Board of Directors in Oviedo, from 2009 to 2015; and on the Board of the Lutheran Services of Florida, from 1997 to 2009.

Additionally, he served as the Counselor for the Merrill Circuit from 1976 to 1980; on the Pastoral Conference Planning Committee for three years in the North Wisconsin District and three years in the Florida-Georgia District; as the Pastoral Advisor of the Lutheran Laymen's League, Florida-Georgia District for three years; on the Commission on Theology and Church Relations from 1987 to 1992 and from 2001 to 2009; as a member of the Florida-Georgia District Board of Directors from 1989 to 2009; and as a member of the Garuna Foundation Board of Directors, overseeing missionary work in Southeast Asia, from 2001 to the present.

Michael holds degrees from Concordia College, St. Paul (1959); Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne (1961); and a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary (1965). Additionally, he holds a Th.M. degree from Harvard Divinity School (1972) with his studies focusing on Japanese religions. He completed additional graduate work at Luther Seminary, St. Paul. In 2003, Concordia College, New York awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters.