New Bothell Lutheran pastor always ready for anything

Published 9:54 pm Friday, June 18, 2010

BOTHELL — The Rev. Chris Hogstad doesn’t let the unexpected get in his way.

In fact, he kind of enjoys it.

As a minister, he’s married dogs and blessed cattle. He and his family encountered freak snowstorms while moving from North Dakota to Washington in May.

“I tend to be the pastor that weird stuff happens to,” he said. “It makes life interesting. I never know what’s going to come next.”

Hogstad, 38, is the new pastor at Light of the Cross Lutheran Church at 2717 180th St. SE. in Bothell. Born and raised in Visalia, Calif., he graduated from California State University, Bakersfield, in 1995 with a degree in history and a minor in political science.

He coached basketball and taught history for two years at North Kern Community School in Delano, Calif., until 2000, when he was laid off because of budget cuts.

He foundered for a year, Hogstad said, doing odd jobs and thinking about what he wanted to do next. Then he started attending a Lutheran church in Bakersfield, Calif.

“God hit me upside the head with a two-by-four. It was sort of like that,” Hogstad said. “He was letting me know I needed to be a pastor in his church. He pointed me in this direction.”

Hogstad enrolled at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, in the fall of 2002.

During his third year at the school, he did an internship at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Defiance, Ohio. He met his wife, Megan, who was from Aberdeen, while at seminary. The couple married in July 2004.

Hogstad graduated from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in June 2006 and began serving as pastor two months later at English Lutheran in Medina, N.D., and St. Luke Lutheran and Hope United Church of Christ in Streeter, N.D.

In December 2009, he learned a church in Bothell was looking for a full-time pastor. He visited Light of the Cross Lutheran Church in March and was interviewed by members of the church Call Committee and youth group.

“His answers were exactly what we were hoping for,” Mark Lloyd, chairman of the committee said. “(The youth group) felt they could relate to him as a youth leader.”

Hogstad was offered the position and on May 16, he delivered his first sermon at Light of the Cross Lutheran Church.

Next week, Hogstad will join the youth group’s week-long mission in Seattle. In the next several months, he is looking forward to meeting more people in Bothell and the surrounding communities. Hogstad said he wants to learn how the congregation can help the community.

“Hopefully we can be a place that’s a comforting place,” he said. “Hopefully we can be a place that speaks to what’s really going on and helps with what’s really going on. A place where we don’t talk over things and we don’t talk under things but we talk to it.”

Hogstad and his wife have a 2-year-old son named Austin and are expecting another child in August.

Hogstad enjoys playing golf and softball and officiating basketball. He is a fan of the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington State Cougars.

The church will host an ice cream social for the community after church service on June 27 in the parking lot. A formal installation of Pastor Hogstad will be at 10 a.m. on July 18 at Light of the Cross Lutheran Church.

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.