New Interim Pastor Trina Johnsten
Tuesday, May 18, the Church Council voted to enter into an agreement with Pastor Trina Johnsten.
The Reverend Trina Johnsten was born and raised in Great Falls, Montana, graduating from Great Falls High School in 1985. She attended St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN), majoring in English and Religion, and then spent nine years serving in the areas of Admissions and Financial Aid at several colleges, including her alma mater.
In 1998 she married Dennis Trotter and began an M.Div. at Wartburg Theological Seminary (Dubuque, IA), two really good decisions in one year! Since graduating, she has served parishes in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, California, and Montana, garnering experience in both rural and urban ministry and doing work as a chaplain and interim pastor. In all her calls, Rev. Johnsten has been a strong advocate for Lutheran Outdoor Ministry, serving on the board for El Camino Pines in southern California and as an advisor at Christikon in Montana, where she worked as a counselor during college.
Her most recent call was as the Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment at United Lutheran Seminary (Philadelphia, PA), where Dennis also served as the Chief Operating Officer. Since returning to Montana in the summer of 2019, Rev. Johnsten finished out Bishop Jungling’s interim ministry at Gold Hill in Butte, just completed an interim year with Bethel in Great Falls, and is now looking forward to her time at Our Redeemer’s. She and Dennis enjoy biking, lifting weights, fishing, hiking, reading, music, and time with family, particularly their two nieces in Great Falls and their four grandchildren in Bellingham, Washington.
Rev. Johnsten will be starting at Our Redeemer’s on August 9.
