Bushre new St. John’s pastor

Lunch with Martin Luther is something the Rev. Christopher Bushre (pronounced Bush-ree) would like to do when his days on earth are over. 

The new pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church, located in rural Geneseo, listed Martin Luther among his heroes that he hopes to meet, and said, “I’d love to have lunch with Martin Luther, if I could.

“Martin Luther has always been a hero of mine because he always stood up for the truth, even when the whole world seemed to be against him,” Bushre said.  “He was a down-to-earth guy.  He liked to tell jokes, he liked to have a beer now and then, he loved his wife, and he loved the Lord and loved to talk about and study about the Lord.”

Bushre was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, where his parents lived when his father was serving in the Air Force.  He also lived in Michigan, Colorado, Missouri and Nebraska, he said.

“My parents raised me in a Christian home, and I have been?Missouri?Synod Lutheran all my life.”

He graduated from Walled Lake High School, Walled Lake, Mich., and earned an undergraduate degree with a double major in biology and religious studies from Concordia College, Ann Arbor, Mich.

He received a Master of Divinity Degree from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and was ordained at the church where he served as pastor, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Lyons, Neb., in 2003.

When he was a college student, Rev. Bushre said his plans were to become a teacher.

“While at college, I had many friends who were pre-seminary, training to be pastors, and the Lord worked on me through them to encourage me to be a pastor,” he said. 

“Having a good sense of humor, the Lord put me in a dorm with all pre-seminary guys, and all I ever heard about was church work and theology classes,” Bushre said.

That sparked his interest and in his junior year of college, when he was nearly finished with requirements for a major in biology, he made the decision to become a pastor.

“I completely changed gears and picked up my religious studies major to prepare for seminary,” he said.

After college he entered seminary and served at a Lutheran church in Nebraska for the last five years, until August when he accepted the call as pastor at St. John’s Church, located about seven miles west of Geneseo.

“Someday, in the distant future, I would like to pursue a doctorate, and teach in one of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod universities or seminaries,” Rev. Bushre said. 

He and his wife, Julie, have a son, Aidan, 5; and a daughter, Allison, who will be 3 in October.