Pastor Ethan Feistner

I was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota on January 30, 1962 to Pastor George and Loretta Feistner.  I am the youngest of five children.  My siblings are Leann, Lisa, Lynette, and John. We moved to rural Superior, Nebraska when I was five years old when my dad accepted the call to Salem Lutheran Church.  We lived in the parsonage until my dad’s death from lung cancer in 1973. I was 11 years old and his death impacted me in many ways.  We moved to Nelson, Nebraska as a family when my mom got a job at Young’s Pharmacy.

While living in Nelson, I started working at the Nelson Grade School and High School as a custodian’s assistant. I worked there until I graduated high school. After graduation, I worked different jobs: painting houses, driving a bus for pioneer seed to take youth to different fields to de-tassel corn, and for a hog farmer. I worked on the hog farm in the summer months all the way through my first year of seminary.

I graduated from Nelson High School in 1980. I then attended Kearney State College for one year. When my sister Lynette was going to move to Fremont, she asked if I would want to move with her. I could attend Midland College and get out of the dorms. I agreed to move and attend Midland.

I graduated from Midland Lutheran College in 1984 with a major in History and a minor in English. I was approached to be a college representative by felt the call to be a pastor.  I went with the family tradition and attended Wartburg Seminary beginning in 1984. While attending Wartburg, I spent four weeks near Holdrege, Nebraska shadowing a pastor in the rural setting. I spent a couple of weeks in Detroit, Michigan studying inner city ministry. In the summer of 1986, I did my CPE in Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas. I interned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Immanual Lutheran Church. I graduated in 1988 from Wartburg Seminary.

I was ordained on June 19, 1988 after accepting a call to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Norway, Kansas. While serving Our Savior’s, I met, dated and married Kellie Lambert. We married on April 20, 1991.Kellie is a partner in every sense of the word. God uses both of us to minister to people and proclaim the gospel. I am truly blessed. On December 13, 1992 to this union, one son was born, Alexander George Feistner. I served Norway for six years and then was called to Peace Lutheran Church near Albert, Kansas. I served Peace for seven years. I then was called to the Falun/Salemsborg Lutheran Parish in the summer of 2001.  I served this parish for 17 years until God called me to be the pastor at Heartland Shared Ministries.

Through out my life, God has used people to direct my way and my call as a pastor. When one looks back, it is amazing how God’s finger prints can be seen in so many ways. I know God continues to guide and direct me and for that I am thankful.