On Sunday, July 1, 2018, the congregation of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Fulda, MN, gathered in celebration of their minister’s 20th anniversary of being in the ministry. Pastor Shawn Ethridge was honored by an outpouring of well-wishes, cards, a potluck dinner, and a beautiful cake.
Rev. Ethridge received his pre-seminary education at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, MI from 1990-1994 with a major in Biblical Languages (Greek and Hebrew) and a minor in Sociology. He attended Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, from 1994-1996. He served as a vicar (intern) at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Parkers Prairie, MN the next year. He returned to Concordia Seminary for his final year of studies in 1997 and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree.
Rev. Shawn Ethridge received a call to two south-central Minnesota congregations. He was ordained into the holy ministry on Sunday, July 5, 1998 at Grace Lutheran Church, Ormsby, MN and was installed as the minister of that congregation as well as Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Galena Twp. (rural Ormsby), the same afternoon. He served the two parishes (as well as Trinity Lutheran Church, Trimont when they were without a pastor) from 1998-2005.
Rev. Ethridge then accepted the call to St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Garfield, MN and served there from 2005-2012, also serving the members of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Leaf Valley Twp. (rural Alexandria) while they were in vacancy.
Since 2012, Rev. Shawn Ethridge has served St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Fulda, MN. He is currently also serving as vacancy pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Slayton, MN.
Rev. Shawn Ethridge is blessed by his wife, Davina, and four children – Rachael, Hannah, Caleb, and Ruth. He has engaged civically his communities: Ormsby for three years as a volunteer fireman, Garfield for six years as a volunteer fireman and first responder, and Fulda for five years as a volunteer fireman. This year he attained the distinction of having served ten years as a volunteer firearms safety instructor with the Department of Natural Resources, having team-taught classes in Garfield and Fulda. In September, he will begin serving as a circuit visitor, a pastor helping to coordinate mutual relationships, to fill pastoral vacancies, and to encourage mutual work with a number of Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod congregations from Luverne to Marshall.
Rev. Ethridge had this to say: “I am grateful for Christ’s goodness shown to me and to my family through the parishes I have been called to serve. The Holy Spirit continues to work great blessings in His Church, even though the Gospel of Jesus’ love and forgiveness is borne by flawed individuals like me. There have been many joyful baptisms, many young (and older) people confessing the Christian faith at confirmation and membership, and many beautiful weddings these past 20 years. Most unforgettable has been the number of people who have been comforted at the death of a loved one, or the closing of a congregation, or the breaking of a relationship by the understanding that Jesus holds out much more to us in His resurrected life than death, or loss, or brokenness can take away. He is our everything in this life. “There is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)”
