Amy Karlson joins Our Savior's Lutheran Church as the Associate Pastor.

NEW ULM – Last month, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church welcomed new Associate Pastor Amy Karlson.

Karlson officially joined Our Savior’s on Aug. 11, but her first Sunday sermon was on Aug. 24.

Karlson is new to Our Savior’s Lutheran, but she has worked as a Lutheran pastor for over a decade, serving as the pastor for First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hector, MN, for 11 years. Karlson’s husband Erik Karlson is also a pastor who works as a pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Glencoe where the two live with their eight-year-old twins Emma and Andrew.

Karlson is originally from Underwood, MN and was raised in the local ELCA church, but it was in college that she decided to become a pastor.

Karlson attended Concordia College in Morehead, taking part in several church organizations, including Churches United for Homeless.

She said her time working at Bible Camp over the summer is what convinced her to answer the call and become a pastor.

“Being with kids and answering questions of faith helped strengthen mine,” she said.

Karlson said working with young school kids is rewarding because many are just starting to find their place. She enjoyed helping them build up their toolsets for the future.

“You’re now always sure which tools they will need later in life, but God is always there for them,” she said.

Karlson would also take part in the “Yong Adults in Global Missions.” Through the program, she lived in South Africa for a year, taking on mission work.

After college, she attended seminary in St. Paul. She conducted her intern pastor work in Windom and Worthington, Minnesota, before being called to First Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Karlson said before coming to Our Savior’s Lutheran, she looked into the church and believed it was a good fit with her views and the boards being aligned.

As an associate pastor, Karlson will work with Our Savior’s senior pastor Kathleen Ulland-Klinkner on the church’s mission. The two will take turns delivering Sunday services and organizing Bible Studies as well as other church responsibilities.

“Though I live out of town, I am hoping to get to know the New Ulm Community better,” she said.

Karlson is continuing to meet with others at the church, including the mission team, to figure out what the community needs.

“I am always curious about the differences between people and different perspectives,” She said. “This is about trying to connect with people and connect with passions.”

Karlson has over a decade of experience working as a Lutheran pastor and has seen many changes in the church. Asked what is the biggest change is, she said people connect with the church differently than before.

“We have to recognize that how people connect has changed,” she said. “People are more mobile. People practice their faith where they are.”

People cannot necessarily commit to being at the church every week. She believes the church needs to be more responsive to how people attend and participate in church life, inside of pushing back against the change.

Karlson is also an advocate for mental health work. Locally, she has worked with the 2B Continued organization, which is a Suicide Prevention organization that focuses on mental health and wellness. Karlson works to promote mental health training and the QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) training.

“My passion is to help people when they are struggling,” she said.

Karlson said how society feels about Christianity, both good and bad, is a broad category that makes it challenging to be a pastor in the modern day.

“There are a lot of assumptions made about Christianity,” she said. “It is trickier to preach in a world that is divisive.”

In addition, what people are looking for in a church may vary greatly.

“God is bigger than our divisiveness,” she said. “But it is a challenge of how we talk about it.”

Karlson said the best part about being a pastor is seeing people make a connection through faith.

“It is amazing to see how God can work in people’s lives in interesting and surprising ways,” she said.

Karlson’s first sermon at Our Savior’s Lutheran was about Jesus healing people on the Sabbath. She said the message of the sermon was to never get hung up on the rules, as it could undermine your compassion.