St Paul Lutheran Church McAllen TX

A WELCOME TO YOU FROM OUR NEW PASTOR

Please know that I am excited and honored to be the pastor here at St Paul. And here is my prayer: to enjoy our time getting to know each other, to celebrate our new relationship, and to relish the anticipation of what our future may hold as we journey together as God’s beloved and as followers of Jesus.

God longs to give us a new beginning toward health, healing and happiness. In a world that is diseased and sinful, God gives us the wine of gladness and a balm for healing. What a way to start writing a new chapter in the treasured mission of St. Paul Lutheran Church and School!

We have a new beginning to celebrate! God has given us each other. He has given us Jesus. He has given us newness of life. That is something to celebrate! Yours in Christ Jesus,
Christopher Otten

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Pastor Otten, his wife Marianne and son Elliott are relocating from Cleveland, Ohio and are looking forward to becoming part of the St. Paul family and the McAllen community.

Pastor Otten studied at Concordia College, Bronxville, New York as a pre-seminary candidate and majored in Music Education. He transferred to Nyack College, where he met his wife, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy.

He has served churches in Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Ohio; as an Assistant and Associate Pastor, a School Chaplain, a Christian Studies Instructor, a Family Life Coordinator, and a college Professor - teaching Introductory courses in World Religions, Contemporary Ethics, and Philosophy.

In 1997, the LCMS Dept. of World Mission endorsed Pastor Otten for ministry in the Armed Forces. In 1999, he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the US Air Force..