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Jay Alan Wiesner has now been ordained into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament. In 2004, he accepted a call as Associate Pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, having served Bethany for a little over two years as Pastoral Minister – Outreach. In 2006, he assumed the responsibility of Pastor after Senior Pastor Steven Benson accepted another call.

Jay was born and raised in New Ulm, Minnesota. During his childhood and teen years, Jay excelled in music, both instrumental and vocal. He sang in many choirs, played violin in the New Ulm Civic Orchestra, and served as drum major in the New Ulm High School Marching Band. Music continues to play an important role in Jay’s life.

As a child, Jay was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. He was confirmed in the Lutheran faith during his years in college and was a member of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Read what Jay has to say about being able to fulfill his calling.

Jay attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Religion and a minor in Greek studies in 1995. While at Concordia, Jay participated in two summer outreach teams, which would travel throughout the western United States. He served as Campus Ministry Commissioner during his senior year. He also worked for two summers at Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp in Colorado, serving as counselor and Day Camp Coordinator.

Jay attended Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and received his Master of Divinity degree in the spring of 2002. He received his Chaplain Pastoral Education at Mayo Clinic. He spent his internship year at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in McHenry, Illinois. After publicly “coming out” to the faculty and students of Wartburg, Jay left seminary during his final year to ponder and pray about his future in the Church.

Jay spent three years in Minneapolis, Minnesota, working as Lay Assistant at Mount Olive Lutheran Church and as Communications Coordinator at Central Lutheran Church. After much consideration, he returned to Wartburg to complete his degree in hopes of serving a congregation as a pastor.

After seminary graduation, Jay began his work at Bethany Lutheran Church in May, 2002. Along with work at Bethany, he served for three years as Director of GLBTQA Student Services at Augsburg College. In 2002 with Ross Murray, he co-founded “The Naming Project,” a GLBT youth group, for youth who long to reconcile their spirituality with their sexuality. Jay works hard dreaming of different ways to reach out to people who have been alienated by the Church due to misunderstanding, bigotry and fear.

In April of 2008, Jay accepted the call to serve as Pastor of University Lutheran Church of the Incarnation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His final Sunday at Bethany was on May 18, 2008.

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