Pastor Steve Klemz

I believe that Jesus is my Lord.  My “Lord” is the one who “owns” all that I am, who is the only begotten Son through whom God loved the world and loves it still.  Jesus is my Lord because of his incredible love for me and this broken world, that he suffered death on the cross and was raised so that we might have life in the shalom God intends for all.  My benchmark in scripture is grounded in Paul’s declaration in 2 Corinthians 5:21:  ”For our sake God made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  This is the Gospel, the fantastic good news that seems too good to be true.  Still, the Word of God calls me into faith as I join with other followers of Christ and would be believers, prayerfully confessing, “I believe, help my unbelief.”  The Holy Spirit nurtures and shapes my faith through the means of grace:  in the wet grace of Baptism which claims me in God’s promise, “you are beloved; you are mine”; and the Holy Meal where God’s love and promise are freely given and received in faith, “for you, for your forgiveness.”

In God’s surprising and mysterious ways, I have been called to be a minister of this Gospel.  I believe that God has given me gifts to be a pastor.  These gifts have been nurtured, nourished and pruned for growth through the Holy Spirited people of God. 

In childhood, I grew in faith through the tradition of my family and relatives with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) in South Bend, Indiana. My family modeled complete devotion to the church, which afforded me the opportunity to grow in strong Biblical and catechetical instruction.  In fact, I even attended and graduated from Valparaiso University, which is connected with LCMS.

However, as often happens in college years, my faith foundation was shaken and called into question.  My younger brother of two years was buried alive and died in the sand dunes near Lake Michigan.  My intense grief and anger gave way to a glimpse of how good the good news really is in the Gospel.  I also became politically active, demonstrating against the Vietnam War and pursued issues of justice in race relations.  During this time I met Pastor Karl Lutze, a minister devoted to addressing societal injustice through his passionate love for Christ and his Church.  Karl Lutze remains my mentor to this day.

I entered Concordia Seminary in Exile (SEMINEX) in its first academic year in 1975.  The seminary became “a confessional movement” in its break with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.  I am incredibly thankful for that experience and the teachers who helped me make sense of the Gospel within paradox of faith:  Simile justus et peccator.  “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or understanding believe….but the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel” (Martin Luther in explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed). 

In my first call in St. Louis, Missouri, through active ministry and community organizing, the Holy Spirited people of God taught me humility and wonder.  As “Associate Pastor for Outreach Ministry” in St. Paul, Minnesota, I became more fully aware of the meaning of joy in ministry and life, through several mission trips to Tanzania. I also learned my place in ministry, which was oft quoted by one missionary friend.  “We are not the teachers, we are the students.  We are not the doctors, we are the patients.” 

Since 1992, I have been serving as pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Salt Lake City, Utah.  Again, the Holy Spirited people of God in Zion continue to shape my pastoral ministry.  Together we have grown in building expansion while growing into new ministries with Interfaith Hospitality Network, revitalize campus ministry, leadership in synodical mission endeavors, vibrant worship, instituting new ministry with Let Me Shine! Christian Play and Preschool.  We continue to grow evangelism and small group ministry. 

My passion for ministry is caught up in God’s amazing hospitality for all people, which is reflected in my leadership with immigration issues in Utah and as the liaison for border issues with the Global Mission Committee, with the Rocky Mt. Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  It is my hope that the church may be the place of welcoming grace and hospitality for all people.  

I am married to Norma (Martinez) Klemz and stay young with teenaged children Tiffany and Abel.  However I am a magnet for pain and can attribute every new gray hair to my unrelenting enthusiasm for the Chicago Cubs.