St. Luke Lutheran Church, ELCA

Pastor John Horner-Ibler

Please take a moment to welcome Pastor John to our church family beginning December 1, 2024!

Hi St. Luke! 

I’m your new Bridge Pastor, John Horner-Ibler. 

I’m a Wisconsin native who grew up in West Bend and have come full circle and now live near there again.

In between my West Bend times, I met my wife Barbara while we were both in college (Carroll in Waukesha).  When we got married, we decided to keep both our last names and so we’ve been the Horner-Iblers for 41 years.

Barb is an ordained Presbyterian pastor who is also an internal medicine doctor. She combines those callings in her work at a free medical clinic in Milwaukee called Bread of Healing. She has frequent Sunday commitments but she’ll worship here when she can. 

As Wisconsinites, we are Packer-Badger-Bucks-Brewers fans. Barb says “pop” I say “soda,” we both say “bubbler.”  We love every season but winter the most. We garden and are drawn to anything that can be paddled. 

There are two other Horner-Iblers in the world!  They are our adult sons, David (32) and Michael (28). David works in other countries to improve food production in low-income areas. Right now, he is based in Ghana.  Michael works in public health to improve training programs at Emory University in Atlanta.  

I’ve been in ministry since 1985.  My work in that time has included being a youth and family director at a congregation in Hopewell Junction NY while also serving as a project coordinator for a church program working on congregational conflict resolution (New York City). Big cities are nice but often best viewed through the rear view mirror.  Barb and I were  drawn back to Wisconsin to serve at Presbyterian and Lutheran congregations that shared a building in Kiel, WI. The Lutheran congregation is now Gloria Dei in New Holstein, WI. I was there for 8 years. Most recently  I was the longest serving member (27 years) of a pastoral team at Unity Lutheran in Brookfield, WI, 

I do answer quite gladly to “Hey you,” particularly since my own ability to recall names is spotty.  Keep telling me your first names and I’ll slowly catch on! On my end, I am not into formality and so John is fine with me, but if you prefer Pastor John, that’s good too.  My previous congregations have often settled on John H-I or PJ (Pastor John) as shortcuts and if you go down that path, I’ll know who you’re talking to.

I retired last April but pretty much used the summer and fall to finish our move from Brookfield to West Bend, have my hip replaced, and figure out what to do next. I’ve always been interested in interim/bridge ministries as a valuable way to support congregations as they make pastoral transitions. 

I’m excited to work together with you in the coming months and have a million questions about each of you and St. Luke. I’ll bring plenty of energy and ideas with me and welcome all same you send back to me.  

To me, ministry is always a collaboration and when it comes alive it’s because a pastor and congregation, find common ground to worship, serve, learn and invite in Jesus’ name. We’re a Good News people! Sharing that with each other and those beyond us is not just the best thing about faith, it’s the best thing about being alive. Let’s go! 

John