Pastor Mike Petersen’s call to ministry came not with fanfare, but during a tender time.
“It was a powerful thing that happened that really solidified for me that God wanted me to do this,” he said.
Petersen had been praying about becoming a pastor and even preached on rare occasion at First Congregational Church, UCC, in Fremont.
One day, an elderly congregant, who was passing away in a hospital, asked her son to call Petersen. So he went to see her.
The prayers with the precious woman helped confirm Petersen’s call to serve Christ and others. Local residents may know Petersen as a Lincoln Premium Poultry employee and member of the Fremont Public Schools (FPS)board of education.
Petersen, who also served in Army National Guard, helped hurricane victims in the Caribbean and was among guardsmen protecting buildings in the nation’s capital after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
People are also reading…
Throughout his life, he’s been part of various community service endeavors. But a couple years ago, he’d embark on yet another path of service.
Petersen remembers visiting the hospitalized congregant.
“We’ve been without a pastor and I really love it when you preach and I was hoping you’d sit and pray with me awhile,” the elderly woman said.
Petersen prayed with her for a couple hours. That night, he learned she’d died. Back then, Petersen wasn’t a licensed pastor in the United Church of Christ, but got to assist with her funeral.
“That was really a moment for me when I realized that what you do at that pulpit is only a small piece of what it is to be a pastor or to show care,” Petersen said. “It really validates my fundamental belief in the priesthood of all believers.”
Petersen cites the Scripture 1 Peter 2:9, which describes Christians as a chosen people and a royal priesthood.
“I wasn’t a licensed pastor, but in that moment I got to be part of the priesthood of all believers,” Petersen said. “We are all ministers and it’s important to remember that. The idea of the priesthood of all believers empowers your congregation and it empowers you as the leader.”
Petersen has undertaken many leadership roles.
A 2008 Fremont High School graduate, Petersen earned his bachelor’s degree with a history major and religion minor from Midland University in 2012 and his master’s degree in business administration with an accounting emphasis from MU in 2014.
He was a meat cutter and then assistant meat market manager at Baker’s grocery store while in college. Petersen ran for State Legislature for District 15 in 2012. He didn’t win the election and continued working in the grocery industry.
Petersen married his wife, Kayla, in 2014. They have a daughter, Amelia, 7, and son, John, 5.
In May 2015, he went to boot camp for the U.S. Army.
“I have been very driven my entire life to service,” Petersen said. “I want to serve and help people. I want to make the community a better place and so I joined the Army and I served six years. I was in the National Guard, so it was one weekend a month and two weeks a year, except for when they activated me.”
In 2017, two Category 5 hurricanes hit in the Caribbean within a week of each other. Petersen spent 30 days in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and a little time in Puerto Rico, when they were without running water and power.
He recalls how guardsmen tried to get food and water to civilians in St. Croix. Many homes were destroyed. He remembers all the chickens and goats walking the streets, because the buildings where their owners had kept them had been destroyed as well.
Petersen was activated for flood relief in Nebraska in 2019. Although living in Fremont, he was part of the 128th Engineers in Columbus and served there instead. He guarded a highway to keep people off it.
Petersen’s last mission was when he was among National Guard troops activated due to the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C. in 2021. Petersen was there in the insurrection’s aftermath.
He helped guard the Vice Presidential mansion and the Capitol.
“We slept in the parking garages of the Congressional Office buildings and we had a security perimeter around the Capitol,” he said.
He and other guardsmen helped make sure the insurrection didn’t re-erupt. By the time of the Presidential Inauguration, Petersen was among thousands of guardsmen working the area.
While in the National Guard, Petersen continued to work at his civilian jobs. He was a territory manager covering the Kansas City and Omaha areas for Golden Plump Chicken of St. Cloud, Minnesota, from 2015-2018.
He worked for the Peter Kiewit Company as a purchasing agent from 2018-2019. In January 2020, he went to work for Lincoln Premium Poultry, where he is the business analytics and reporting program manager. He reports on all the data regarding plant operations.
“I’m big fan of numbers and data and spread sheets,” he noted.
In the meantime, Petersen has served on the FPS board of education since he was elected in 2018. Many projects – all part of the $123 million voter-approved bond issue—are underway as part of the FPS improvement plan.
Petersen got out of the military in April 2021 and wanted to rejoin, but health issues prevented him from doing so.
“I’ve always been a person of faith and I began to seek new ways of serving in a way I was hoping would be even more profound,” Petersen said. “I think a lot of the problems I observed during all my years of doing community service – the core of them is spiritual. It’s not political. It’s spiritual and it’s raw and it’s very human and earthy.
“So I began to connect my service with my faith journey.”
Petersen joined First Congregational in 2015. The church has been without a called pastor since 2019. Retired pastors filled the pulpit on occasion and Linda Newman, a licensed minister, did a fantastic job, he said.
“She helped hold us together during the COVID closure,” Petersen said. “She would preach and I’d video the service and put it on Facebook. We really owe her a debt of gratitude.”
Petersen began to feel the call to ministry about three years ago. He’d fill the pulpit when ministers weren’t available.
“That’s when I began to realize this could be another avenue of service for me,” he said.
Petersen prayed about it for a year. Two years ago, Petersen formally said he wanted to be the church’s pastor. He began the denomination’s process which took two years.
About a month ago, he was authorized and licensed by the UCC’s Living Waters Association. The Fremont church voted him in as pastor on June 25.
The church has about 125 members. Weekly attendance is increasing. About 20 attended when the church reopened after COVID. Approximately 40 attend now.
“It’s good to see some life coming back after COVID,” he said.
Petersen is a bi-vocational pastor. He maintains his job at LPP, but has regular church office hours. He commends his spouse for her support.
“I have an incredibly understanding wife, who lets me do all the things I want to do for the community,” Petersen said. “She is a saint. I love her more than anything.”
Petersen loves the church.
“I think we do really good things for the community,” he said.
He believes the National UCC mission statement: “United in spirit and inspired by God’s grace, we welcome all, love all and seek justice for all.”
Petersen plans to continue to receive more education and training and working with his mentor.
“It’s my hope in ministry to teach and articulate the priesthood of all believers, the need to build Christ’s kingdom on earth and show each other grace,” he said.