Pastor Josh Graber
Pastor Josh Graber has a passion for ministry that reaches people where they are at while inviting them into a life of faith that engages a love for humanity, art, nature, and justice. He believes the Holy Spirit is active in the world, in our communities and personal lives and that Jesus calls us into holy Interruption and radical hospitality. He believes God wants us to truly be who we were created to be, our authentic selves—not to pretend to be someone we think we are supposed to be.
His favorite scriptures are from Isaiah, Amos, Mark, John, Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians [Ask him why!] but believes all Scripture can come alive and reveal God’s truth if we are curious and ask good questions about them.
Pastor Josh was born in Washington State near Holden Village https://www.holdenvillage.org, the remote Lutheran retreat center in an abandoned mining village deep in the Cascade Mountains. This unique Christian community shaped the lives of his family and their friends. In 2017, Pastor Josh returned to Holden to serve as visiting pastor, which was one of his favorite and most unique ministry experiences.
Pastor Josh grew up on the “West Coast of Wisconsin”, in a small town on Lake Pepin, a wide point of the Mississippi River. Pastor Josh received his bachelor’s degree from Trinity Lutheran College in Issaquah, Washington, and volunteering at a Homeless Newspaper and Empowerment Project called Real Change in Seattle had a powerful influence on him. He received his Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Pastor Josh came to First Lutheran in 2020, after serving Mt. Zion Lutheran in Wauwatosa as their Interim Pastor. Prior to that he was the Founder, Developer and Director of Abundant Life Together that created a discipleship gap year for young adults called ALT Year.
In addition to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Washington State, Pastor Josh has also lived and worked in Ohio, North Dakota, Iowa, Hawaii, Connecticut, and California and has been to all 50 states. He has training as a mission developer, community organizer, coach, interim minister and (most importantly) improv comedy through Comedy Sportz and Ampersand Theater in Milwaukee.
Pastor Josh’s wife Sarah is a professor and director of a collaborative center at UW- Madison. They have two kids Paul and Mary Pearl and a cat named Pickles (who acts like a dog). When he gets free time, he loves exploring the small businesses and restaurants of Milwaukee’s many neighborhoods and the parks and lakefront of this beautiful part of Wisconsin. He enjoys watching and playing sports, managing his fantasy football team, watching and discussing movies and TV shows, music, and taking photographs (trees are a favorite subject). When he gets a chance to read he likes reading books about history and the ancient world, politics and society, new ideas, and travel magazines. He also loves monster trucks. He doesn’t know why.
He began at First Lutheran as a term-call pastor and was called as a permanent pastor in 2023. His time here has been shaped by interacting and finding fits for the many gifts of the people of First, guiding the mission efforts and outreach and organizing the church.
This is his personal ministry statement that he submitted in his ELCA Rostered Minister Profile when he was called to First, “As a pastor I get to help people connect stories of their lives to God’s story of grace, love, and hope. I get to convene God’s conversation with humanity about the gift of Jesus Christ and connect it to the stories of justice and transformation in the communities and the world around me. The power of my witness comes in knowing that as I carry these stories, and am blessed to share them, they also carry me.”
Pastor Josh and his family enjoy a beautiful quilt crafted for them by Sew and Sew Quilters to welcome their daughter!
Pastor Josh was invited to share this “Ministry Memory” with the Synod in 2025
I think the ministry memories that stand out to me during my time at First relate to the way this community adapted their worship and ministry during the pandemic. They told me they were willing to try new things and think outside the box and they had to prove it quickly. My call started on March 7th, 2020 so before I could even lead worship on a Sunday the building was shuttered for in-person gatherings because of Covid-19. We adjusted by filming worship in the Sanctuary. One of our council members created tutorials for how to use Zoom and how to order groceries that we uploaded onto our website and really helped our people stay healthy. We utilized zoom for worship and meetings through the spring. During the warmer months we set up two canopies in our courtyard and had Tabernacle worship. During the winter we bought radio broadcast equipment and partnered with a nearby church with a parking lot to lead Drive-in worship. One of the members there built me a tree-stand altar area covered in plastic wrap and with a small heater we made it work all the way through the next Easter. After vaccinations became more available we set up precautions and began meeting back in the sanctuary again. These adaptations over my first 15-months taught me a lot about the members of First and I think taught them some things about themselves too. They proved resourceful, innovative and wise. And when I finally got to meet with them face to face I told them that!—Pastor Josh Graber
