Wayne Walther (1974 Th.M.)

Walther submitted the following account of his life:

I grew up in an area of St. Paul, MN known as Dayton Bluff. The bluffs above the Mississippi River that flows through St. Paul. The congregation of Mounds Park United Methodist Church nurtured and encouraged me which led to a call when I was sixteen. My home church gave me my first scholarship to North Central College in Naperville, IL. I graduated from NCC in 1971 BA, cum laude with a Religion Major and Philosophy Minor. I married Susan Sauer on June 12,1971 and moved to Boston, MA to begin my theology education. Susan worked at Mugar Memorial Library while I attended BUSTH and interned at Old West Church. I was ordained a Deacon in the Minnesota Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church in June of 1972. I served six appointments for a total of thirty-eight years retiring July 1, 2010. While serving appointments I was a District Youth Coordinator, Conference Youth Coordinator, an organizing pastor of a new church start in Savage, MN. While starting a new church I served as President of the Savage Chamber of Commerce and served on the Board of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches serving on the personnel committee and the Congregations Concerned for Children. A Child Care Center was founded at the Glendale United Methodist Church in Savage. In 1999 I became the first Executive Director of Koronis Ministries, a retreat and camp facility which grew to include a new hotel which opened in 2003. Wayne became a Board member of the American Camp Association Northland Section and was a delegate to the National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Since moving to Red Wing in 2005 I joined the Noontime Kiwanis of Red Wing serving on their Board and being elected President for 2014-15. Kiwanis serves the children and youth of the Red Wing area with books, scholarships and other projects. Wayne is Team Leader for the Minnesota Annual Conference Human Resource Team. He serves on teams that go into the Federal Prison in Rochester, MN with a program like Kairos. We have three children: Kathryn a graduate of St. Catherine’s University, St. Paul, MN who works for the Department of Housing State of MN; Luke a graduate of the University of Minnesota working for Stang Precision Inc. in Paynesville, MN; Joel a graduate of Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN and Wesley Theological Seminary of Washington, D.C. who is pastoring in the Detroit Conference of The United Methodist Church.