1933-2006
, former Assistant Pastor of St. Francis Lutheran Church and a founding member of Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA), counselor and mentor, inveterate story teller, music lover, and patient advocate for full-inclusion, died on Friday, Sept 22 of a heart attack at age 73.
Funeral services for Jim will be held at St. Francis Lutheran Church, 152 Church Street, San Francisco, at 11a.m. on October 14th.
His pastoral roots go back to the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Jim graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, and then Luther Seminary in St. Paul and was ordained in 1959.
After serving parishes in Minnesota and South Dakota, Jim served as Assistant Editor of Lutheran Forum magazine in New York City, was on the editorial staff of The Liturgical Conference, Washington, D.C. In 1974, he responded to an invitation from the Rev. Jim Siefkes to gather in Minneapolis with a handful of other gay and lesbian Lutherans and became one of the founding members of Lutherans Concerned.
Late in the 1970s, Jim moved to California, joining St. Francis Lutheran Church. In 1982, was called as an assistant pastor, a position he held until his retirement in 1996.