Features the Rev. Alfonso Espinosa
Pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church,
Laguna Beach, Calif.

by Pam Knepper,
Managing Editor, For the Life of the World

At one time or another we have all heard the phrase, "God works in mysterious ways." For men who decide to become pastors, this saying often appears regularly when they describe their journeys into the Holy Ministry. Reverend Alfonso Espinosa is no exception.

Born into a strong Hispanic family in Delano, Calif., Rev. Espinosa spent his childhood sporadically attending services in the Roman Catholic Church. While he was accustomed to hearing the name of the Triune God while making the sign of the cross, Rev. Espinosa was unprepared for the message he heard when as a teenager he attended a divine service in a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LC-MS) congregation. Attending the service to please his Lutheran girlfriend (who invited him to church), it was here at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Delano that Rev. Espinosa heard for the first time the clear doctrines of Law and Gospel.

"I heard that Christianity was not about being good, but that it was Christ who was good for us and gave Himself for our sin on the cross so that we would be free from the curse of our sins and have eternal life in Him," remembered Rev. Espinosa. "This message, of course, had a profound effect on me and my future."

Attracted to the message he heard and having developed a strong mentoring relationship with the Rev. John A. Miller III, pastor at Our Savior’s, Rev. Espinosa became a member of Our Savior and the LC-MS when he was 18 years old. It was at this time that the first seeds for becoming a pastor were planted.

"Shortly after becoming a Lutheran, Rev. Miller told me that he felt I had the gifts to be a pastor," recalled Rev. Espinosa. "At first I felt he was crazy, but over time I found his words stayed in my mind and would remain there for several years."

After graduating from high school, Rev. Espinosa matriculated at the University of California-Davis to pursue a pre-med program, but after only a few weeks he dropped out.

"I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life," remembered Rev. Espinosa. "I was still dating my Lutheran girlfriend at the time and was only too willing to compromise my education. But when the relationship suddenly ended, I decided to work full-time and re-evaluate what I wanted to do"

In the winter of 1984, Rev. Espinosa went back to college. For two semesters he attended Bakersfield College in Bakersfield, Calif., and then transferred to Christ College (now Concordia University) in Irvine, Calif., to begin classes for the fall semester of 1984.

Rev. Espinosa said that it was at Christ College where the idea of becoming a pastor became real for him. Very active in two student programs-Spiritual Life Inreach and Summer Youth Ministry Teams, Rev. Espinosa explained that these programs allowed him to get a taste of service in the Church.

"By the time I was in my senior year at Christ College I knew the Lord was leading me into the Holy Ministry," said Rev. Espinosa. "But not unlike many other future pastors, I was still resisting the idea."

Majoring in psychology, Rev. Espinosa found himself divided between pursuing the ministry and going on to get a master’s degree in professional counseling. Torn by what he should do, he went to the late Rev. Dr. Garth Ludwig, Department Chair of Social Sciences at Christ College, for advice.

"Dr. Ludwig made it very clear for me. He said that I would do very well in either arena, but that I would do more good for more people if I became a pastor. Furthermore, I had no doubts about the Lord’s will when my then girlfriend and future wife, Traci, told me I would be letting God down if I didn’t pursue the ministry. With these two last counselors, I decided to go to the seminary."

Having received strong recommendations from his pastor, Rev. Miller, Concordia Theological Seminary (CTS) was the only choice for Rev. Espinosa. And after a summer field-work experience as a seminary-candidate (between college and seminary) at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Colusa, Calif., Rev. Espinosa eagerly began his seminary training the fall of 1987.

"CTS provided an encouraging and motivating environment in which to learn the great theology of our Lutheran heritage," said Rev. Espinosa. "The professors, particularly Professor Marquart and Dr. Scaer, did a great job of preparing me academically for the pastoral office."

Unlike most seminarians who have only one vicarage experience, Rev. Espinosa had two. The first took place during the summer of 1988 at Christ Lutheran Church, located in south central Los Angeles, Calif. While at Christ Lutheran, Rev. Espinosa participated in the Black Lutheran Outreach For Ongoing Missions (BLOOM) program which consisted of a group of LC-MS congregations in the inner city that supported one another in a variety of ways. As a vicar, Rev. Espinosa visited each congregation for a two-week period helping out wherever assistance was needed.

"I made prison visits, distributed food, and even dressed up as and lived with the homeless population of south central Los Angeles for a day," explained Rev. Espinosa. "It was a very humbling and insightful experience."

His second vicarage (regular one) took place from 1989 to 1990 at Faith Lutheran Church in Riverside, Calif. Serving a congregation of approximately 500 people, Rev. Espinosa headed up the evangelism and youth programs.

"My supervisor, the Rev. Lionel Skamser gave me a lot of freedom during my vicarage year at Faith," said Rev. Espinosa. "And with the amount of responsibility he allowed my experience was a very good one."

Graduating in 1991 from the seminary, Rev. Espinosa’s first call was to St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Covina, Calif. Serving from 1991 to 1996, Rev. Espinosa remembers his first call as being an incredible experience.

"Before I came, St. John’s had experienced a four year vacancy," remembered Rev. Espinosa. "But after my arrival I was able through the grace of God to help heal some internal strife so that by the time I left in 1996 the congregation had doubled in size. For me that was very gratifying."

Along with serving the congregation, Rev. Espinosa also helped out with the church’s grade school by conducting weekly chapel services, teaching jr. high religion, and visiting the other classrooms on a regular basis.

In 1996, Rev. Espinosa left St. John’s to accept his second and current call to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Laguna Beach, Calif.

"I had reached a point in my ministry where I wanted to serve a church without a school,” explained Rev. Espinosa. “I wanted to concentrate on emphasizing the parish and St. Paul’s was looking for a pastor who wanted to do that."

As part of this parish emphasis, the congregation at St. Paul’s has recently ventured out in a new direction by starting their own church extension mission. Located in the nearby community of Aliso Viejo, the mission congregation worships every Saturday night and is currently averaging 16 people each week.

"It has been really exciting to see how a fairly small congregation like St. Paul’s, which has only 250 members, has enthusiastically supported a new mission church," said Rev. Espinosa. "It goes to show that those who believe that only large congregations can support mission churches are wrong. Hopefully, St. Paul’s can serve as an example to other small congregations to do the same thing."

Another way that Rev. Espinosa has emphasized parish life has been through the development of a field-work program for future full-time parish workers.

In conjunction with Christ College at Concordia University, Irvine, St. Paul’s has now welcomed a total of five pre-seminarians to serve as field workers in Laguna Beach. In appreciation of their service, each pre-seminarian has been promised a $500 per year seminary scholarship for each of their academic years while in seminary. As of the fall of 1999, three of these young men, once field workers in Laguna Beach, will all be at CTS as a vicar, a sem II, and a sem I, respectively.

"This program is very exciting because not only do these young people benefit the congregation through their service, but they get a taste of what life will be like once they are working full-time in the Church," explained Rev. Espinosa. "In fact, because of this program, St. Paul’s is now working with a pre-deaconness candidate, enrolled through Concordia University, River Forest, but in residence at Concordia University, Irvine. As a result, we are hoping to call her as our future, full-time deaconness."

When he is not serving as pastor at St. Paul’s, Rev. Espinosa serves the LC-MS teaching religion classes as an adjunct professor at Concordia University, Irvine.

"If someone would have told me back when I was dropping out of school that I would be serving the Lord the way I am now, I would have laughed at them," explained Rev. Espinosa. "But God’s grace in Christ is truly boundless, and though I was totally unsuspecting, I am now very, very grateful to be a servant of our Living Lord."