‘Spirituality has always been present in my life’

ALC welcomes new pastor

NEWPORT – The American Lutheran Church (ALC) in Newport has much to celebrate, with its 100th birthday coming up in October and a new pastor after a two-year search. Mead resident Brendan Wiechert’s first day as pastor was March 29. Former pastors and husband and wife team Matt and Janine Goodrich left Newport in 2023 after accepting a call to ministry in Oregon. An interim pastor from Coeur d’Alene served the ALC congregation.

“They are beloved in this congregation, so I would like to keep that feeling of warmth and welcoming that they had here,” Wiechert said of the Goodrich’s.

A retired banker after 30 years, Wiechert grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, as the middle child and only boy in a family of five. His family attended the Episcopal church, and he was active in acolyting and the youth group.

“I know there are people who had bad experiences growing up with organized religion, but I was lucky that my journey went differently,” Wiechert said. “I only had two pastors up until I was 18, and they were both terrific. Spirituality has always been present in my life.”

After high school Wiechert attended the University of Kansas, where he earned degrees in Business Administration and Economics. While at college, he served as a youth director with his old church. He also worked four summers at Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Christo Mountains of New Mexico, where he fell in love with the Great Outdoors.

“I was just awed by God’s creation,” Wiechert said. “It wasn’t the landscape I had grown up with and it just infused this love for being outside and enjoying nature.”

Nature wasn’t the only thing Wiechert developed an affinity for in New Mexico. In his last summer there, Wiechert met his wife, Debbie. Debbie is from Omaha, Nebraska and that is where Wiechert began his career in commercial banking and Debbie in social work. Brendan and Debbie were married in the Catholic Church of her youth in 1994.

The Wiecherts began looking for a place they wanted to raise kids and moved to Mead in 2001. Their children, Calen and Hannah, were raised on camping in the Colville Na-

Brendan Wiechert, the new pastor of American Lutheran Church in Newport, during his ordination. Around him are his wife Debbie and grown children Emma and Calen, presenting him with a stole, “a visible reminder to the pastor of being ‘yoked’ to Christ and thus having a responsibility to share Christ’s love and forgiveness,” Wiechert said. Wiechert designed his stole and the symbols each represent places on his journey to become a pastor.

COURTESY PHOTO| REV JEFF NEUBERGER tional Forest and skiing at 49 Degrees North. After initially attending St. David’s Episcopal in Spokane, they joined St Luke Lutheran in 2008.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 Wiechert began to wonder what life might be like outside of banking. With the encouragement of his pastor at St. Luke Lutheran, he began exploring seminaries and landed on Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“I was looking at perhaps being a math teacher, but my pastor told me, ‘No offense, but I think you would be a bad math teacher,’” Wiechert said, smiling. “He did tell me that he thought I would be a good pastor.”

In June of 2021, the synod, a formal council of church leaders, approved him for candidacy to attend seminary. Bob Baker from Lutherhaven, a yearround camp and Christian retreat center in Coeur d’Alene, called to say the ministry was looking for a new part-time finance director and Wiechert worked for Lutherhaven while attending school.

Wiechert said seminary brought new friends and opportunities, including Christian leadership development at Salem Lutheran, pastoral education at Riverview Retirement Center, and internship at Advent Lutheran. He also participated in independent study trips to a Lutheran World Federation ecumenical council in Strasbourg, France, followed the “Footsteps of Paul” in Turkey/Greece, and visited Martin Luther sites in Germany.

“It is hard to pinpoint where the call to Word and Sacrament ministry first began in his life because the Holy Spirit has always been there,” Wiechert said.

He added that he is excited to work with the American Lutheran congregation and leadership and developing connections with the community.

“I look forward to learning together and discovering what is next for American Lutheran Church.”

Watch for more information about ALC’s 100th anniversary celebration, coming up in the fall.

The American Lutheran Church is located at 332801 Hwy. 2 in Newport. For more information on church services and resources, go to www.americanlutheranchurch. net.

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