Led to the North Shore

Daren Blanck appreciates the welcome from the community since being installed as pastor of Zoar Lutheran Church in August.

Daren Blanck was a teacher for 22 years before he decided to change careers. His last teaching positions pointed him down a path to ministry and led him to the North Shore, to serve as pastor at Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte.

The Cook County News-Herald caught up with Blanck at Zoar Lutheran Church recently, in the midst of moving his office, to talk about the route taken to the Tofte church.

Blanck spent most of his teaching career in Pequot Lakes with a few years in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He enjoyed teaching earth and life science, history and drama. Before coming to Tofte, he and his wife Michelle also worked in schools abroad, spending three years at schools in Daejeon, Korea and Suwon, Korea and two years in Skopje, Macedonia.

The Blancks enjoyed Korea; enjoyed living in what Daren describes as “a forest of apartment buildings.” While there they attended a Korean Methodist Church and Daren observed that the churches there are “kind of on fire.”

The school in Daejeon was a Christian school and Blanck got to know Pastor Yani Yoo, a professor at a Methodist seminary who had worked in the United States. After serving the church in various ways and at the end of a successful retreat that Blanck had helped plan, Pastor Yani asked, “Why aren’t you a pastor?”

Blanck recalled, “She was very direct. I laughed and said no. She laughed and said, ‘Oh yes.’”

And although he laughed, the idea came back to him when he and his family were back in the United States visiting relatives, traveling across Minnesota to a birthday celebration. “I kept seeing closed churches. Bars and gas stations were open, but churches were shuttered. I thought, really, North America is a mission field. Maybe there is something to what Pastor Yani said.”

On that road trip, he asked Michelle what she thought of the idea. What if he pursued a career in ministry, he asked. “She said yes,” said Blanck with a grin, noting that Michelle had led the way before.

He recalled that she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom when their children, Sophia (now in third grade) and Elijah (now in 6th grade) were small. “We made that leap of faith and thought we would end up five years later in debt. We actually ended up better off,” said Blanck.

Once the decision to make another leap of faith was made, the Blancks had to figure out how to make it happen. Daren first explored a Methodist seminary, because of his relationship with Pastor Yani, and then a Lutheran seminary. The cost of both were prohibitive. Also, Blanck said, he had spent his time in college.

He and Michelle learned about the Lutheran Congregations in Mission of Christ (LCMC)—of which Zoar Lutheran is a member church—and its “Beyond the River Academy.” Blanck explained it is a place for people— generally students over 40—who feel a calling to ministry.

As their work at the school in Macedonia wound down, he sent an email inquiry about the academy. While waiting, he gained more experience in ministry. Pastor Lazo at the Methodist church that Blanck and his family attended in Macedonia asked him to “practice preach” for the English speaking congregation and to assist in services.

He also asked Blanck to “help” with the Macedonian choir. Blanck readily said, yes, thinking he would be singing with the choir. “It turned out he meant conduct the choir!” said Blanck.

His musical theater background came in handy and he got through the challenging surprise—only to learn that the church had received permission to perform a concert on the Central Plaza under a magnificent statue of Alexander the Great. He was asked to once again be the conductor. In fact, Blanck chuckled, Pastor Lazo gained permission in part because “a conductor had come all the way from America to perform.”

The concert went well and church members took the opportunity to pass out Bibles in the former Communist country. “It was an amazing example of God working,” said Blanck.

And an affirmation of his calling, which came as no surprise to his parents. Blanck said when his mother heard of his plan she remembered that Daren used to dress in his father’s shirt and tie to “preach.”

Blanck contacted the Beyond the River Academy and asked if there was a church in the United States that would work with him. He was told that Zoar Lutheran, in a little town in Tofte, Minnesota was without a pastor. That was a surprise—he knew where Tofte was.

Blanck said he was familiar with Cook County. He was a canoe guide and counselor at Wilderness Canoe Base with Jim Wiinanen for about four summers in the mid-80s. He and a good friend had taken a number of Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) treks. They normally entered the wilderness from the Gunflint Trail area, but on the last trip his friend suggested setting out from Tofte.

Tofte seemed like a good fit and interviews were conducted via Skype. Blanck was asked to send a sample sermon. And then the Blancks waited. Michelle said, “If it’s meant to be; it’s meant to be.”

While they were waiting, they took advantage of living near European destinations. The family took an inexpensive flight to Rome. While there, they were pleased and surprised to get a call from Tofte—Daren was invited to serve at Zoar.

There was one more hurdle. The couple had a contract to complete at the school in Macedonia. “And, there were some kids that I couldn’t just walk away from in the middle of the year,” Blanck said.

More serendipity—Zoar was willing to wait. The family completed their commitment in Macedonia and came to Tofte in July. Daren was installed as pastor on August 1 and the family is getting settled in.

Michelle is working at Birch Grove Elementary. In addition to his ministerial studies and pastoral duties, Daren is teaching science for one period per day at Silver Bay High School.

Part of the reason Zoar Lutheran could wait for their arrival was that Pastor EvaLyn Carlson of Grand Marais was serving as interim minister, doing a wonderful job, said Blanck. It was Carlson who brought the church to the idea of being a “Beacon of Hope on the North Shore,” a motto that Blanck looks forward to continuing. “Pastor EvaLyn is great,” he said.

Blanck is making his own mark at Zoar already, with things such as the rearrangement of office space. When the News-Herald visited with Blanck, he was moving his things to a room downstairs, freeing up the welcoming room with big windows on the upper level to be used as a community gathering space. “The congregation will be able to enjoy this space for Bible study,” said Blanck, “For classes…youth and family gatherings on Sunday nights, games, worship and…who knows?”

While making some changes, Blanck also plans to honor the history of Zoar, which was founded by Lutheran immigrants from Norway. “There is a long history of being independent minded people,” said Blanck.

But even more so, he said, Zoar is a “welcoming, accepting group of folks.” He expressed appreciation to the Zoar congregation. “I really appreciate them allowing me to be here, to continue to study, as well as all the care and concern they have shown my family and me.”

“Zoar truly is a congregation of the community,” Blanck said.