The installation service for the Rev. Robert
Forsberg was held Sunday, April 3, 1997, at the 10;30 a.m. worship service.
The rev. Walter Arnold, assistant to Bishop Callon Holloway of the Southern
Ohio synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was the installing
official.
Richard Johnson was the chairperson of the Call committee which worked through
the interview process starting in July 1996. Working from a list of candidates
recommended by the synodical office, council then met with the candidate, interviewed
him, and approved his selection by a two-thirds or larger vote. After a trial
sermon, the congregation had to accept the candidate to be its pastor by a two
thirds vote.
The Call committee reported that it was impressed
with Pastor Forsberg’s firm Biblical based faith and his ability to communicate
that faith with preaching and teaching skills. Pastor Forsberg had described
himself as having “a compassion for persons and a desire as a teacher to provide
the building blocks of faith and practical application for living out Christ
in one’s life.”
Pastor Forsberg graduated from
Moorhead State College in 1968 with a Bachelor
of Science degree in psychology. He earned his master of divinity degree from
Northwestern Lutheran seminary in 1973. His first church call was to Trinity
Lutheran church in Malinta, Ohio, from 1973 to 1987. He was pastor of Triumphant
Cross Lutheran Church, Trotwood, Ohio, from 1987 to 1997.
Pastor Forsberg considers the role of his wife Sandra as an important part
of his ministry. She was seeking support for a mission to Africa as a Lutheran
Bible translator at the time they met. They were married Dec. 28, 1975. Their
son Nathanael is a student at Wright State University; their daughter Deborah
is a sophomore at Fairborn High School.
