In the Field

Featuring the Rev. David Stechholz, 
Pastor of West Portal Lutheran Church, 
San Francisco, California

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

Leading Others to Christ

Never mind that Pastor David Stechholz was born into a family that had produced four generations of Lutheran pastors. For him it wasn't family tradition or his Buffalo Synod roots, but rather a love for church music and a burning desire to tell others about Jesus Christ that influenced him to devote his life to leading God's people.

Born in 1948 south of Buffalo, New York, David spent the first five years of his life moving to different New York and Pennsylvania villages as his father accepted pastoral calls. In 1953, the moving ended when the elder Pastor Stechholz accepted a call to serve St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mendon, New York. It was here that David grew from a child into a young man.

Coming from a musical family, he had become involved in the church's music life at a young age.

"I have always had a love for music," he remembered. "I was given the opportunity to serve as V.B.S. pianist at age 11 and as the organist at church at 15."

Graduating from high school in 1966, Pastor Stechholz went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. Along with his major, he also minored in music and geography.

After receiving his bachelor degree in 1970, he then attended and graduated in 1972 with a Master's degree in International Relations and Foreign Policy from American University in Washington, D.C.

"At that time I really wanted to make it big in politics," remembered the Rev. Stechholz. "Whether that meant political office, the State Department, the United Nations or some sort of government service, I did not know. But what I did know was that I loved government and being around it."

This attitude changed drastically when he went to work for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1971 while still pursuing his Master's degree.

"It was during that time that I came to the realization that government work was not my calling in life," said Rev. Stuchholz.

Frustrated by what he had witnessed, Rev. Stechholz decided to go back to his first love, church music. Serving as Minister of Music at Lutheran Church of St. Andrew in Silver Spring, Maryland, his duties grew to include directing five choirs, a small orchestra, and serving as church organist.

"This was an exciting time for me," remembered Rev. Stechholz. "I was serving the Lord through music and being given the opportunity to evangelize to those who didn't yet know Christ as their Savior and Redeemer. It was during this time that I finally realized that the Lord was calling me to serve Him as a pastor."

Applying to both the St. Louis and Springfield seminaries, Pastor Stechholz ended up choosing Concordia Theological Seminary at Springfield.

"This was during the time of Seminex and I felt because of the circumstances that Concordia Theological Seminary would provide me with the best education with the least amount of fighting," explained the Rev. Stechholz.

Beginning his studies in the fall of 1974, Pastor Stechholz remembers his seminary years as being a marvelous time and making wonderful friendships.

"Concordia Theological Seminary had wonderful, caring professors who were genuinely interested in me as a person and as a future pastor," explained Pastor Stechholz. "I was given the chance to involve myself in the seminary's music scene by serving as Assistant Dean of the Chapel, as a volunteer organist, and directing the Chapel Choir. It was a great time in my life."

As is the case with all seminary students, Pastor Stechholz spent a year of his studies on vicarage. His year was spent serving Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

"I learned many things while I was a vicar, but the three most important were how to effectively manage a large congregation, how to effectively supervise a vicar, and the serious nature of the theological divisions in our beloved Synod," said the Rev. Stechholz. "Later on in my own ministry as a vicarage supervisor I found the lessons I learned from my vicarage year to be quite helpful."

Graduating in 1978, Pastor Stechholz's first call was to serve Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. A call that would last for ten years, during his tenure the church doubled its membership, built a new house of worship, and started a Christian pre-school.

"I am happy to say that today Redeemer Church is still growing," said the Rev. Stechholz. "So much in fact that the pre-school we started has gone on to develop into a full Christian day school."

While serving Our Redeemer, Rev. Stechholz was also able to complete most of the course work for a Ph.D. in Roman Catholic Systematic Theology at Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, he was not able to transfer his credits when he accepted a call to California.

In 1988, Pastor Stechholz left Our Redeemer to accept a call to Messiah Lutheran Church in Danville, California.

"During my three years at Messiah we were blessed to construct a new church building and see the congregation double in membership," said Pastor Stechholz. "It was only through the grace of God that all of these things were being accomplished."

In May 1991, Rev. Stechholz left Messiah and accepted his current call to serve West Portal Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in San Francisco, California.

"I accepted the call to West Portal because I felt the Lord was calling me to go to a congregation that had a Christian day school and multiple Divine Services," explained Pastor Stechholz. "Once again the Lord was right."

Situated in a highly multi-ethnic community with a growing Asian population, Rev. Stechholz believes the Church and School are blessed with a great opportunity for intentional evangelization.

"West Portal has one of the largest Christian day schools in the Synod with 70 percent of the students being Asian," he said. "This has proved to be a wonderful situation for introducing Christianity to children and families who have never had any kind of religion in their lives."

Since 1991, the congregation's Asian population has grown from 6 percent to 34 percent, with many people filling key leadership positions. Most of Asian descent are Chinese.

"This has been a tremendous outreach for the Asian people who do not yet know Christ," said Pastor Stechholz. "If they see strong family values and good education, along with love and acceptance of them, they are willing to see their children sing in church services and attend on Saturday or Sunday."

To further help the process along, the Rev. Stechholz, his vicars, and the Pastoral Deacon teach a SCF (Sharing the Christian Faith) class three times a year on Sundays and Thursdays where attendees learn more about what Christianity is, who God is, and what the benefits are to becoming a Christian. He also teaches classes on baptismal information throughout the year, especially for families of West Portal Lutheran School.

"I believe we constantly must catechize. Teaching is essential to getting the message of Jesus Christ out to the people," said Pastor Stechholz. "That is why so much of my time as a pastor is spent doing just that, teaching God's people and those who do not yet know Him, including in the homes. Home visitation is essential, and, yes, a house-going pastor makes for a church-going people."

Pastor David Stechholz and his wife Janet are the parents of Andrew, Mary Rachel, and Sarah. Mary is a freshman at Concordia University-River Forest, and Janet teaches at Hope Lutheran School in Daly City, a school that West Portal has just helped begin. West Portal was also one of the founding entities of New Life Chinese Lutheran Church in San Francisco, and the congregation is about to start a five million-dollar new school campus building. The Stechholz family resides in South San Francisco, California.