The pastors at St. John Lutheran Church are new to the community, but the Rev. Rebecca Breddin has roots in both the church and the community.
"My mom was confirmed at this church," she said. "I'm living in the house my grandparents lived in."
Her baptismal record even lists St. John as the church of record, although she was technically baptized at a stock dam near Dupree where her parents ranched. At the time, her grandfather, the Rev. Willard Olsen, was the pastor at St. John.
"It's a weird connection," she noted, but no stranger than another role her grandfather played in her life.
She grew up in a community which did not have a Lutheran church. Still, her grandfather encouraged her to work at Outlaw Ranch near Custer State Park, and that is where she met her husband, although initially the age difference prevented them from dating. She was in high school; he was in college.
The Rev. Karl Breddin was born in Papua, New Guinea, the eastern half of the large island north of Australia. His mother was from Iowa, his father from Australia. They were teachers when he was born and moved to Iowa for a time to be near his mother's family. However, they returned to Papua, New Guinea, after his father finished seminary.
Pastor Karl returned to the States after finishing high school to attend Augustana University, where he majored in religion. He wanted to be near his mother's family in Des Moines.
"I planned on going to grad school and becoming a college professor," he said. He realized he might have to reconsider his career path when it became clear he preferred playing guitar to studying.
"Sometimes you have to fail in order to succeed," Pastor Karl commented philosophically.
Thus began a dance which would lead both him and his wife into seminary and ordination. He became a church youth director and began to work in outdoor ministry at bible camps.
They met in 1997 and became friends. She became a church youth director while a college student, and they started dating in 2000. Two years later, they were married on the prairie near the stock dam where Pastor Rebecca was baptized.
"The morning of the wedding, my soon-to-be father-in-law and brother-in-law, with a trailer full of chairs, found the cattle had gotten into that pasture," Pastor Karl recalled with a smile.
During the early years of their marriage, one or the other was engaged in youth ministry. The other would hold another job in the community. For a while, Pastor Karl was in the hospitality industry. Later, Pastor Rebecca was working in a nursing home.
In 2009, after suffering a couple of heartbreaking losses, Pastor Rebecca decided "to take the leap" and begin seminary. Because she was pregnant again, she opted for online classes.
"Karl kept looking over my shoulder," she said. They discussed it and came to a decision. "We were only going to seminary once."
They sold their house in Alexandria, Minn., and moved to St. Paul. It was a frightening move for them, but they were blessed in making it. The South Dakota Synod of the ELCA had a scholarship which covered tuition for them. During that time, their third child was born.
"I literally sent in a paper and had him," Pastor Rebecca recalled.
Their internship was in North Dakota, where they continued to serve until being called to St. John. In coming to St. John, they bring both the strength of their relationship and their individual gifts. Both are quick to name the other's strengths.
"Rebecca is definitely more sociable," Pastor Karl said. "People connect easily with her. She has a ready laugh."
Pastor Karl has the knack for administration and for tackling the tasks that are part of church leadership.
"He knows where we're going and I'll make sure we smell the flowers along the way," Pastor Rebecca said.
They share a vision of what it means to be a church in the community and in the world today.
"I want everyone to have access to faith and spirituality and Jesus," Pastor Rebecca stated. For that to happen, the church needs to ask: who doesn't have access?
Pastor Karl explained this approach reflects their roots in outdoor ministry where the goal is to bring faith to campers in a new way.
"Not everyone sees things in the same way," he said. As a result, sometimes the church needs to reflect upon ways to offer richer experiences to people in the community.
"In any church body, there's a lot of things we do without questioning why," he noted.
What Pastor Rebecca described as the "great, rich tradition in the Lutheran church" is attractive to many. However, it's also important to be open to the role of the Holy Spirit.
"We do not come by faith on our own, but by the Holy Spirit. That's a beautiful theology," she said.
They expect to share the duties of preaching and community life, figuring out as they serve the specific roles that each will assume. They are very much looking forward to becoming involved in church life in Madison.
"We were attracted to the community aspect of St. John, that it was outward focused," Pastor Karl said.
"What I've noticed is there has been a strong presence of lay leadership," Pastor Rebecca stated. "I look forward to working with them and being visionary together."
She noted that while she and Pastor Karl bring their gifts, they are not alone in having gifts that build the church.
"It's always what we can do together," she said.
