Church, community bid Walerius godspeed

Like every good minister, the Rev. Mike Walerius opened with a joke when asked what he will miss the most about First Lutheran Church in Blooming Prairie:

“I’d have to say it’s the lutefisk,” he said, before laughing and adding, “no, just kidding.”

Walerius’s last day in the pulpit at First Lutheran is Sunday; a dessert reception will be held during the coffee hour that follows the 9 a.m. worship.

“Our worship will contain a service of farewell and godspeed,” said the Rev. Heidi Heimgartner, senior pastor. “The congregation is enthusiastically wishing Pastor Mike and the Walerius family well in his next role.”

That next role is closer to home, as senior pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Owatonna, where the family lives.

Walerius and his wife Tiffany are Owatonna natives. She is a fourth-grade teacher at Washington Elementary, and their children attend Owatonna Public Schools.

“One of the challenges was being involved in both communities,” he said. “I want to be active in Blooming Prairie, because I serve there,” but with the rest of the family tied to Owatonna, “I wanted to be active in this community, too. I’m looking forward to having just one community to totally invest in.”

Still, Walerius said, when he arrived at First Lutheran in Blooming Prairie more than five years ago, “we felt welcome immediately.”

His father owned the Bixby Feed Mill for about 25 years, “so it felt like I was sort of part of that community already,” he said. “Pastor Heidi said it was like I started on second base, because I knew people and they knew me. Those real relationships either started or grew further.”

Heimgartner said she and Walerius learned together, as friends and colleagues.

“What the community may not realize is that as Pastor Mike was learning how to be associate pastor of First Lutheran, I was also learning how to be senior pastor,” she said. “My new call (to Blooming Prairie) preceded his by 10 months… I am grateful to God for sustaining us and forging us, more than I can say.”

Heimgartner credits “our dedicated church staff and leaders” for helping the congregation before, during, and after the pandemic – but it was the pandemic that nudged Walerius toward change.

“Coming out of COVID, I kind of felt a little stirring,” he said, “like maybe it was time to look a little bit. This senior position (at Our Savior’s) opened up; I never dreamt of being in Owatonna and in a senior position.”

The timing of it all, Walerius said, “just lined up beautifully, but it was a hard decision, because I made so many great relationships in Blooming. My wife and I had some long talks and some prayers about it, because I love Blooming, too. But it just seemed like the right fit at the right time.”

He will be missed, Heimgartner said.

“From Sunday morning preaching and worship leadership, to wedding and funeral ministry, to outreach, baptism and education milestones, he did it all with good humor and care,” she said.

Walerius was part of the music worship team and led Confirmation students, “so it was his solemn task to leap down an icy hill in a snow tube, paddle a canoe and form faith,” she said, “but the most important thing Pastor Mike brought is what every pastor hopes to bring: that is, the gospel of Jesus.”

He will do the same at Our Savior’s, which Walerius described as “similar in feel and similar in worship size, too.”

Still, he realizes he is leaving behind a supportive congregation and community.

“Blooming Prairie supports their churches and supports the activities of the churches so fully, that’s a real blessing,” Walerius said. “People have been really gracious in saying, ‘we’re going to miss you, but man, we’re excited for you,’ so that’s really cool, too. I’m so grateful for the time I had in Blooming Prairie.”

First Lutheran will be guided in its transition and search for a successor to Walerius, Heimgartner said, but “the timeframe for any next settled call is up to God.”

The church’s annual lutefisk dinner, set for Oct. 14, is sold out.