Ministry Leaders

Rev. Ted Vanderpan

Pastor Ted Vanderpan will be commuting to Belle Plaine from Buffalo, MN, where he lives with his wife Sara, who is also an interim pastor.  They have two adult daughters and a six-month-old granddaughter. They also have two dogs, a cockapoo and a Cesky Fousek – yes, that is correct. Pastor Ted enjoys outdoor activities including pheasant hunting, fishing and golf.  He also enjoys spending time in SD where he grew up.

He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead and Luther Seminary in St Paul. He has served a small rural congregation, started a new congregation, and served two large congregations, one as an associate and then as senior pastor. Most recently, Pastor Ted served as Senior Pastor at Zion Lutheran in Buffalo and as Interim Pastor at Prairie Lutheran in Eden Prairie and Hope Lutheran in Jordan.

His work at St. John will focus on keeping our congregation stable and running now in between regularly called pastors. And he will work with our leadership to help us clarify what we want to focus on as a congregation in the future and what we will be looking for in our next regularly called pastor.