He’s brand new to the area but Jonathan Watt is quickly settling into the community. Watt, who is coming here from Truman, Minnesota, is the new pastor at Life in Christ Lutheran Church in Grand Marais. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Quiet at first, somewhat reserved, Jonathan Watt slowly opened up, and by the time he was done answering questions, it was evident that Cook County and Jonathan would be a great fit.
As the new pastor of Life in Christ Lutheran Church, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Church located at 2017 W. Highway 61, Grand Marais, (the old Pie Place location), Watt is used to rural, small-town life. And while he had never been to Cook County before interviewing for the job, he said, “This is a beautiful place. I come down to the harbor in the mornings and walk along the bay. I love the fall, the sunshine, the leaves, the cool weather.”
Watt grew up in the small town of Gresham, Nebraska but he comes here most recently from Truman, Minnesota, where he resided for two years. Before that, he lived in Burt, Iowa, where he was a pastor for five years. Prior to that, he lived in Howard, South Dakota for two years and Creston, Iowa, for seven years, where he served as pastor of churches in those communities.
The father of three grown children, Joshua, 29, and Micah, 25, who live in Kansas City, and Hannah, a college student at Concordia college in Seward, Nebraska, he is also a proud grandfather. “I have three grandchildren, Nora, 2; Everett 9 months and Abigail, nine months. Josh is the father of Abigail and Nora and Micah is the mother of Everett.”
In his free time, Jonathan likes to hunt, fish, and read a lot. “I read a wide variety of novels,” he said. “I especially like 1950s science fiction.”
As for hunting and fishing, he added, “I like to hunt deer and pheasant. In Iowa, I fished mostly bass in farm ponds. Now that I’m here, I look to expand my fishing skills,” he smiled broadly after he commented.
As a pastor of a small church congregation-something, he hopes to grow- Jonathan will take on extra work to make ends meet.
“In addition to my pastoral duties, once I pass an F.B.I. background check, I will drive a school bus for I.S.D. 166. That should help me meet people in the community.”
His goals at Life in Christ are, “to serve the church with word and sacrament. I also hope to be active in the community. In Creston, I was president of Habitat for Humanity. Right now I am just getting settled in.
I look forward to learning more about the community.”
Next July Jonathan will serve as an elected delegate for the district at the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod national convention to be held in Tampa Bay, Florida. The conference is held every three years. He’s excited and honored to attend the convention and represent the area, but he’s equally excited and honored to conduct a summer church service at Heston’s Lodge at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays.
Jonathan was sworn in as the new pastor of Life in Christ on Sunday, September 29. He was interviewed four days later after a windstorm had knocked out his power and lights. It was all good. Just part of settling into a new county, a place he is already calling home, windstorms and all.
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