New pastor settles into new role at Holy Trinity Lutheran

The Rev. Kari Lee thought she would be playing Cinderella at Disney World as a kid, but after graduating from Augustine University in 2009, majoring in religious studies, she found serving a higher power was more of a calling for her.

“I thought I would do many other things, and I ended up really enjoying my religious studies classes,” Lee said. “It’s part history, part sociology, part psychology. It’s just a whole lot of things all boiled down into one.

“I find it energizing and engaging. When you’re in college, that’s when people talk about what sparks joy or what are you passionate about,” Lee added. “All of a sudden, (while studying religion), I realized I was already doing a lot of these things. I thought I already shaped so much of my life around this, and it’s pretty genuine to who I am.”

Now, she will be filling the shoes of the retired the Rev. Ken Ahntholz at Holy Lutheran Church in Newton. Lee has already been established as a familiar face at the church. Whenever Ahntholz had to be elsewhere for a week, Lee was one of the supply pastors called to substitute. She officially took the pulpit Feb. 1.

She and her husband, as well as her two-year-old and four-month-old daughters, have lived in Grinnell for three years. While her husband teaches at that Grinnell College, Lee had made a name for herself working with youth ministries, as well as when they briefly lived in Oregon.

Lee grew up in Hurley, S.D., a town of about 400 people where she went to school with the same 10 kids from kindergarten through graduation. She said when someone lives in a small town, they learn cooperation and how to work through things.

“I loved kids. I loved the goofy dresses. I knew all of the songs, and I thought (Disney World) was where I was going to be. But I found out Florida was super humid, so I’ll pass,” Lee said. “I was called the playground mediator. Teachers didn’t have to go correct kids’ behavior when they were fighting because I was always over there saying, ‘Let’s play nice, everyone.’”

When not at school, she was able to attend a Lutheran church with her parents, siblings and grandmother. While she had her mother to thank for her faith in God, she had her grandmother to thank for making sure she attended church.

Those concepts helped Lee get all the experience needed for being a pastor, as well as her interpersonal skills for people’s celebrated days and the times they need help the most.

“You’re working with people. When you’re a pastor, you get the privilege of working with people on their best days and their worst days,” Lee said. “You get to celebrate things like weddings and anniversaries and births and baptisms. But then you’re also called late at night because someone has passed away or someone got a really bad diagnosis.”

Lee was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during an afternoon service at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Grinnell. Earlier in the summer, she earned a Master’s of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary St. Paul, Minn.

Lee will replace Ahntholz, who has served the church for nearly a decade and being ordained for the last 49 years. He will enjoy life at home with his wife Lois in Ankeny.

Lee said she hopes to be able to carry on what Ahntholz did so well at the two churches.

“It’s intimidating to think about filling (Ahntholz’s) shoes,” Lee said. “I think the best thing I can do is honor his shoes and know that he did a really good job. I think what most pastor’s hope when they are done with their service is for the way their engagements have shaped the community have reflected Christ and lasts beyond them.”

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