Holy Trinity Lutheran Church pastor to retire

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Newton will bid farewell to its pastor of nearly a decade at the end of the month.

The Rev. Ken Ahntholz will be retiring after the Jan. 27 service. On his last day, a retirement reception will be held in his honor from 2 to 4 p.m. at the church, 1409 S. Eighth Ave. E. in Newton.

Ahntholz has been a pastor at Holy Trinity for nine years and was ordained for the past 49 years. At 74 years old, he has decided it was time to say goodbye to churchgoers and be at home with his wife, Lois.

“I’ve seen retirement as another calling. I’m not sure how that will all be because I haven’t tried that yet,” Ahntholz said. “We don’t have any particular plans. We’ll be engaged in life.”

Ahntholz grew up in the small town Table Rock in southeast Nebraska, where he spent his childhood working on a farm and going to church. He came to Iowa to attend Wartburg College in Waverly. He graduated there in 1966 while majoring in social work, before attending graduate school at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque.

In terms of ministry, Ahntholz have served in a variety of places in Iowa. Including the Ridgeway Lutheran Parish in Ridgeway, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Neola and St. John Lutheran in Conroy and Resurrection Lutheran Church in Ankeny.

In addition to his service at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, he has ministered to the St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Sully for the past three years.

“You have to have a degree in something,” Ahntholz said. “For us, we need a bachelor’s degree in some area. And then, we have four years of theological education which is master’s work. We do three years on campus and one year of an internship. You need all of that before you can be ordained.”

Ever since going to church as a child, Ahntholz knew he wanted to become a pastor, and he knew it was his calling.

“That would’ve been part of my goal when I first went to college. I always knew I was going to be a minister. It’s just always been a part of me. I got called to that,” Ahntholz said. “In this business, we talk in terms of calls. Sometimes, you try to resist that, but God has got so many plans.”

But Ahntholz has found a new calling in retirement. He and his wife Lois will most likely enjoy their home and their yard work, as well as their relationships with the community and family. They have three adult children, two sons who live in California and a daughter who lives south of Clear Lake.

“We always have (visited) our children,” Ahntholz said. “I don’t know why we’d stop now.”

Contact Orrin Shawl at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or oshawl@newtondailynews.com