Living Christ Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights, celebrates new pastor
The Reverend William (Pastor Bill) Harder was ordained and installed as the new pastor of Living Christ Lutheran Church, 625 East Dundee Road, Arlington Heights, in a ceremonial service held in March. The service was attended by pastors from the Northern Illinois District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, members of the congregation, and numerous friends and family.
Pastor Bill was born and grew up in North Tonawanda, New York, which is located on the Niagara River between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York. He came to the Midwest to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. While at Purdue, he was a member of the of the Big Bass Drum Crew in Purdue's All- American Marching Band.
After graduating from Purdue in 1978, Harder moved to Elgin, to take a job as a sales engineer at Simpson Electric Company. He later pursued his career in sales at AT&T from where he retired after nineteen years of selling voice and data products to business customers. He achieved the $1,000,000 Sales Club for 2016.
Harder grew up in a household dedicated to God. His father was actively involved in the church as the Sunday School Superintendent while Harder grew up. Harder was also actively involved and served as an acolyte while in high school. Later in his adult life, Harder went through a crisis that brought him closer to Jesus.
Harder attended Immanuel Lutheran Church in Palatine. He became involved in Men's Ministry, and in 2004, he led the Adult Bible Class. In 2009, he stepped up to lead both the Men's Ministry and the Adult Bible Class.
In 2017, the 500th year anniversary of Martin Luther's Reformation, Harder entered Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri. His studies prepared him for Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP), a program with a certificate of completion at the end of four years. This is an on-line and in-person learning program designed for those who will become a Pastor serving in a specific context. Harder's mentor was Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Acton who Harder describes as "an excellent mentor because he would stretch my mind." The fall and spring sessions were on-line. Winter and summer were on-campus one-week intensive courses. Harder acknowledges that it was a balancing act juggling his time between serving the church as a vicar, his studies, and driving a school bus for First Student part-time. He enjoyed spending time on -campus because he found person to person interaction preferable to on-line interaction. Harder found the seminary professors much more accessible than professors when he attended Purdue. It was easy to sit down at lunch with educators and to discuss different topics.
Harder's vicarage of a little over 5 years began in August 2017, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Palatine. During this time, he also filled vacancies at Trinity Lutheran Church, Genoa, Our Savior Lutheran Church and St. John's Lutheran Church, Woodstock, His vicarage concluded on March 5, 2023, when he was ordained and installed at Living Christ Lutheran Church.
According to Pastor Bill, God is calling him to shepherd His flock at Living Christ. It is about caring for people's souls in health and in sickness. The great commission of bringing people to faith is the church's ongoing work. Living Christ is blessed to have a food pantry and dedicated volunteers. During this next year, Pastor Bill and the congregation will be looking to have a new vision in place to reach those individuals who are in need. The existing church board structure will be analyzed so that it is more aligned to other nearby church structures.
On a personal note, Pastor Bill and his wife Marilyn celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this past February. Marilyn was born and grew up in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. They like visiting historical places and have travelled to the Northeast, Virginia, and to Charleston, SC. Travelling to Dublin, Ireland and to Bath, Great Brittan was a trip of a lifetime for the couple. One of the most memorable trips was going on a whale watch from Cape Ann, MA. According to Pastor Bill, they had a close up encounter with a humpback whale that came underneath the boat, watched and waved to those on the boat with his flipper. In their spare time, Marilyn enjoys baking and gardening and Pastor Bill enjoys reading.
All are welcome at services at Living Christ Lutheran Church held on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. In addition, there is Bible Study after the service and on Wednesdays. There are also groups such as the prayer shawl ministry that meet at different times during the week. For more information, call the church office at 847.577.7133 or visit the church web site at www.livingchristlutheran.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/livingchristlutheran. Sunday services are also live-streamed on YouTube.