Hi, I’m Mark Van House, Senior Pastor of Our Savior’s. I was born and raised in Austin. I attended Shaw School and Austin High School. I graduated from St Olaf College & received my M.Div. from Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul. I was ordained here at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in 1987. I’ve served over 3 decades in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Canada.
I was called as a pastor in eastern Montana (4 years), suburban Denver and Greeley, CO (13 years), Toronto Canada (12 years), Spring Valley MN (3 years) and since August 2019 back at Our Savior’s Lutheran here in Austin.
The congregation I served in the Greater Toronto area is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse Lutheran churches in North America.
I met my spouse, Kara Johnston, while in CO and enjoyed hiking, skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking. Kara and I like taking walks here in Austin at the nature center, along with snowshoeing. We enjoy the music and arts programs along with the community events in our city. It’s an honor and pleasure to serve my home congregation as senior pastor. I hope you will find it to be a welcoming and caring faith family as I found it to be while growing up in this congregation.
Micah 6:8