Koehler Installation & Ordination
Please join us on Sunday, February 8 at 3:00 PM for a special worship service at Holy Cross Lutheran Church & School, as we celebrate the installation and ordination of Jacob Koehler as Associate Pastor to serve as our Shepherd of School.
This meaningful service will be followed by a reception in the Welcome Center, and we warmly invite you to stay and celebrate with us.
Read Jacob Koehler’s acceptance letter to the congregation.
Dear Partners in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
Greetings in the name of our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord!
I am delighted to announce that I graciously accept the Call that you have extended to me to serve as one of your associate pastors. I give thanks to God that through the Holy Cross congregation He has called me to Word and Sacrament ministry in this place and I get to continue caring for the people that I have come to know and love.
I humbly ask for your continued prayers for me, my family, and this congregation as we participate in God’s mission here. I am grateful for the patience that you have shown toward me as I prepared for the Office of the Holy Ministry.
Together I look forward to equipping and sending God’s people to make a Christ-like difference in the world! May the peace of God be with you always.
In Christ’s service,
Jacob Koehler
Pastor Ahlersmeyer interviewed Jacob Koehler four years ago when he entered the seminary at St. Louis. Please watch to learn more about Jacob and his passion to guide students & families in his role as Shepherd of School.
Jacob Koehler was Called to serve at Holy Cross in the spring of 2013 following the completion of his Bachelor’s of Science degree in elementary education from Concordia University–River Forest, IL. That fall he began as one of the fifth grade homeroom teachers and a coach within the athletic department. Throughout his almost thirteen years here he has been involved in coaching various levels of boys sports at Holy Cross, namely football and basketball. A collegiate football player himself Jacob places a high value on the integration of the Christian faith within athletics and the overall development of young men as part of his unique ministry to this congregation and the Fort Wayne Lutheran community at-large.
In August of 2017 Jacob assumed the dual roles of K–8 physical education teacher and director of athletics when the need arose for the Holy Cross faculty. He was able to perform those tasks dutifully for four years before feeling a strong urge toward pastoral ministry in 2020. At that time a Call committee tasked with identifying a new associate pastor for Holy Cross concluded that any such candidate should be focused intentionally toward the congregation’s school ministry efforts. With the encouragement of Pastor Ahlersmeyer, Jacob’s name was put forward for consideration, recommended by the committee, and approved by the congregation. He was to be called as Shepherd of School and pursue pastoral certification through the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS).
Beginning in August 2021 Jacob was enrolled at Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis (CSL) in their Specific Ministry Program (SMP). In addition to taking classes in a hybrid model of online and in-person instruction he has served as the Vicar for this congregation in what might just be the longest vicarage in LCMS history! Throughout this period of preparation he has gained experience in preaching, teaching adult Bible classes, and becoming more familiar with congregational operations. His primary area of focus has been the teaching of theology during the school day to children in all grade levels with a concerted focus on the middle grades. He also functions as the primary preacher for the weekly school chapel service. And he has the opportunity to mentor and care for students and their families as opportunities present themselves. With the completion of the SMP program at CSL and a general pastoral certification from the LCMS Jacob is delighted to continue to call Holy Cross home as he serves as one of its associate pastors.
Jacob is married to Nancy who teaches mathematics part-time at Concordia Lutheran High School. Together they are parents to Nathan (2) and Kathryn (1).