Contact info:
Office hours:
Pastor Fast's office hours will vary as he works to get to know the St. Matthew congregation and surrounding community. For non urgent issues, please call the church office to set up an appointment. For urgent issues, please email Pastor directly at pastorfast@gmail.com or call his cell phone at 507-236-3361.
Pastor Thomas Fast:
Pastor Fast has accepted our call to be Pastor and is now serving at St. Matthew.
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What a joy it is to have been called to serve St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church as her pastor. Even before I was officially installed, it was evident I was called to serve a caring and faithful congregation of Lutherans.
By way of introduction, I was born In Shreveport, LA, and raised in the deep South, spending my formative years in Florida. I attended Concordia College in Austin, Texas, in the early 80’s, where I met my wonderful wife, Carla, who is a Lutheran School teacher and the best “pastor’s wife” a pastor could ever imagine. After graduating from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in the Spring of 1988, I was Ordained and called to serve at First Lutheran Church in Natchez , Mississippi. During my six year tenure in Natchez, God blessed us with the gift of a son, Christopher. He has been a joy to us every step of the way and we are so pleased to see him working as a BCBA, designing therapeutic programs, training and overseeing therapists who work with autistic children in Rochester, MN. He has been gifted with a wonderful Christian woman as a wife in Charline, who is originally from Haiti but is now a citizen of the United States and works as a nurse at the Mayo Clinic hospital, also in Rochester. In 1994, I was called to serve Christ Lutheran Church and School in Jacob, Illinois. Carla also served as a teacher at the school during my tenure. In 2000 I was called by St. Paul Lutheran Church and School in Fairmont, MN for the second time, having declined the first call, and prayerfully accepted the call, serving there until January 2022, when I accepted the call to St. Matthew. Carla also served at St. Paul Lutheran School as a teacher both in a part time and full time capacity. I cannot thank God enough for having called me to serve four wonderful congregations. I love all four of them and have found it difficult to leave each time I was called away to serve elsewhere, even as I eagerly followed where the Lord’s call led. I find myself, following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, regularly mumbling the Biblical utterance: “I am an unworthy servant,” as I consider the privilege I have enjoyed in serving our Lord in the Office of Holy Ministry. Those words are calming and settling for many reasons, not the least of which is because they are so profoundly true. By way of hobbies, I love spending time with family most of all. I also enjoy (trying to) play golf, watching various sporting activities, and have recently taken up high altitude day-hiking. That is more than I would like to share about myself. I would rather preach about the love of God in Christ Jesus. Just ask me, and I will be glad to tell you why! In the Name of Jesus, Pastor Fast, an unworthy servant |
