Current Pastor

Rev. Byron Northwick, PhD was born to O. Byron and Charlotte (nee' Roehler) in Fairmont, Minnesota. After graduating from high school, he attended Mankato (now Minnesota) State University graduating with both a B. A. and M. A. Upon graduation he worked for the state of Minnesota and then the state of California in San Diego as a rehabilitation counselor for the deaf and hearing impaired.

While in San Diego the Lord led him to enroll at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne (which meant it had to be a call from God to leave San Diego for Fort Wayne, Indiana). He vicared at Hope Lutheran Church in Whittier, California. On graduating from the seminary in 1981, his first call was to Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Wamego, Kansas.

During his pastorate in Wamego, he was able to pursue and complete his Ph. D. program in adult and continuing education. His dissertation was titled: The Growth of the Missouri Synod, 1847-1872: The Use of Education for the Preservation and Promotion of Lutheran Orthodoxy. He left Kansas to work with Lutherans For Life in St. Paul and was later called to serve Trinity Lutheran of Lake Johanna in Arden Hills, Minnesota.

In addition to his pastorate at Trinity, Pastor Northwick has served on the Board of Regents for Concordia University, St. Paul since 1997. He has also taught as an adjunct professor in the master's degree program.

In 1990 Pastor Northwick married Melissa Loe at Redeemer Lutheran in Ventura, Iowa. They have been blessed with two children, Andrew and Erica.

Pastor Northwick has served at Immanuel since April 2002.