Emanuel Lutheran's New Vicar: On Fickle Millenials and His Criminal Justice Background

Emanuel Lutheran Church installed long-time paritioner Mike Mulso as its newest vicar on March 3.

Mulso has been employed by Concordia University for the past 17 years and received a Master's Degree in criminal justice from the school in 2004.

He is studying to become an assimilation pastor through the Seminary’s Specific Ministry Pastor Program, according to the church's website.

Mulso lives in North St. Paul MN with his wife, Sara, and sons, Zachary and Cameron.  He enjoys hunting, fishing, competitive barbequeing and coaching his son's sports teams.

Mulso answered several of Patch's questions about his new roll via email.

What will be your primary responsibilities at Emanuel Lutheran?

My primary responsibilities will be to get new and current members involved in the church along with reaching out to the community to get them to know that we exist and that we are sharing God's word with all who will hear it.  A lot of this is done through building relationships with people who walk through our doors.  We have a lot of things that are happening at Emanuel Lutheran and we are always looking for ways to help and reach out to the community.

What interested you about the congregation? What do you see as its main challenges?

My wife and I have been members for a while.  Through our being involved in the ministries that are going on there, I have become more involved in the leadership ministry.  I was asked to help lead worship and the Holy Spirit worked through me and I have become more comfortable in my leading the congregation.  Emanuel Lutheran is a very missional congregation.  We reach out to others who are sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we help them.  We are welcoming to all who are seeking to know about Christ and what He has done for them. The main challenges that I see is the ability to overcome the trend of the millennialist generation: If something more exciting is happening, I will go do that instead of go to brick and mortar church.  People today also are struggling with the concept of If God is good why can this be happening to me or to those around me.  

How will your sociology and criminal justice background influence your work at Emanuel Lutheran?

I think that may background in sociology and criminal justice will help me be able to relate to those I come in contact with. Working at Concordia University in St Paul as the security director has allowed me the ability to reach out to people in their time of need and show them that someone does care for them and that God is truly there for them.  Getting phone calls in the middle of the night to be by a family member's side will not be anything new to me. I am used to receiving calls at all hours of the day and night.