Pastor Kirsten began serving as Pastor at Lord of Life in October 2016. She comes most recently from New Mexico, where she was the Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hobbs.
Pastor Kirsten grew up in Wisconsin, and is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. She has spent many summers working at ELCA outdoor ministry sites: as a counselor and also as a chaplain at Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp in Fort Collins, Colorado, and as a Boundary Waters canoe guide at Voyageurs Lutheran Ministry in northern Minnesota. She was the Youth Ministry Coordinator for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Littleton, Colorado before fully discerning a call to ordained ministry. She went to seminary at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California within the Graduate Theological Union.