Female pastor leads St. James Lutheran Church in Western Springs through renewal

It was the summer of 2000 and Erin Clausen stood in St. Louis at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s Youth Gathering with her eyes closed.

She was listening to Nobel Peace Prize-winning social rights activist Desmond Tutu recite a prayer.

That moment served as an important one for the pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Western Springs. Up until then, she wasn’t sure which direction her life was about to take.

“I had a vision of myself teaching Sunday school class,” Clausen said. “I saw myself standing behind a pulpit speaking. It made me absolutely incredibly excited.”

But Clausen said she also was interested in working in education with disabled students. So, keeping her eyes closed, she tried to picture what her life would be if she chose that path.

“I didn’t see anything,” Clausen said. “The vision stopped. After an experience like that, it’s hard to say no.”

And that’s how she knew a life of ministry was her fate.

Clausen, who grew up in Ohio, was raised Lutheran although she went to Baptist schools when she was young. She attended Denison University, where she first majored in math before quickly switching to theology. After she graduated in 2004, she went on to The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where she earned her Master of Divinity in 2009.

"I had no intention of staying in Chicago," said Clausen, now 30. "I didn't think I'd fall in love in the city."
But that's just what happened. Clausen met her husband, Tom, and he took a technical engineering job in Chicago.

Clausen, in turn, took an interview at a quiet church with a small congregation in Western Springs. She admitted she was doubtful, at first, because she said a small size of a congregation — between 25 to 40 people — often indicated a “dying congregation.”

But after her interview, all of Clausen’s reservations washed away.

“It became very clear to me that they are not a dying congregation,” Clausen said. “They are dedicated to doing whatever God calls them to do.”

Clausen accepted the position and started in July 2009.

“She’s just a wonderful leader,” said Helen Cooke, parishioner and president of Women of St. James. “She takes the time to know the congregation, to know what their interests are. I’m quite impressed with her.”

Cooke, who has been a member of St. James Lutheran Church for 26 years, said she’s seen a slew of pastors, including women, come and go before Clausen stepped in.

“She is strongest, more so than any of the others, in leadership,” Cooke said. “Her sermons are personalized and always insightful. I walk away very tearful.”

St. James’ first service was held on Nov. 18, 1956, in Forest Hills Elementary School with 26 people attending. The building congregation members now have at 5129 Wolf Road was completed in 1960.

However, recently the church has looked inward, Clausen said. Members have dedicated themselves to renewal efforts, to discover what the mission of the church is and what the community’s needs are. Part of that effort was creating a public prayer garden on church grounds in September where people of all denominations can sit and pray or just enjoy an afternoon outdoors.

“I’ve been really intrigued by the way this has evolved,” Clausen said. “For two to three years, we’ve been internally figuring out how to be more welcoming, more inviting. The first thing God told us was to build a garden.”

Although the world of worship in modern-day America is constantly evolving, Clausen said she never regrets following the vision she saw in St. Louis more than a decade ago.

“To preach, to teach, to be with people,” she said, “I absolutely love these things.”