Paul Linnemann

The Rev. Dr. Paul Linnemann was born into a ministry household. His dad, Art, was a Lutheran school principal and Education executive for the Northwest District. His mom, Vernette, was a kindergarten teacher after staying at home to raise Paul and his three siblings. Paul has served in numerous roles in LCMS ministries. He was a junior high teacher/coach in a Lutheran school for 5 years, served as a DCE while earning a master’s degree in counseling psychology; and was an associate professor at Concordia, Portland as a member of the Student Services staff and teacher of psychology. In 1992, he and his wife, Cindy, moved the kids to St. Louis where Paul served as a counselor for Lutheran Family and Children’s Services of Missouri while attending Concordia Seminary.

He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Theology and was ordained in 1995. He served Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Tigard, OR for fourteen years before being elected President of the Northwest District in 2009. Concordia University-Portland conferred an honorary doctorate to him in 2016. Paul and Cindy have been ministry partners and married for 42 years. God has blessed them with three children and five lively grandsons.