New Journey Lutheran Church (ELCA) has named a new pastor.

Elizabeth Gallen will be installed Sunday, March 21, in a virtual service. Her Call becomes official Tuesday, March 16, when she is installed by Pastor Mike Johnson of Christ the Lord Lutheran Church in Carefree. He also is president of the church conference,

Gallen, who grew up in Glendale, is a recent seminary graduate, finishing her education last May at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.

The position at New Journey is Gallen’s first Call, meaning it is the first time to lead a church.

Gallen said she is looking forward to her new adventure.

“I have not had a lot of interaction with the whole congregation yet,” she said. “But they have a good spirit. They are a peaceful, gentle community, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”

Gallen said she will work with the congregation to transition from their relationship with retired Pastor Adele Stiles Resmer.

“When a pastor leaves a congregation, there usually is an interim pastor who helps the community grieve the loss,” Gallen said. “Since New Journey has not had an interim pastor, I will work with members who may be missing Pastor Adele.”

Gallen explained that pastors’ gifts vary, with each person specializing in different areas such as church stewardship, social ministry, youth and family.

Gallen said she will concentrate on the church’s mission. She added that she believes her greatest gift is her “love for all of God’s people. People can be hard to love, but I care deeply about people. All people.”

She said she has a deep passion for social justice and was attracted to New Journey’s mission to help others who are less fortunate.

“My interest in social justice includes working with the homeless, those with mental health issues, addiction, issues and racial justice,” she said.

The New Journey Lutheran Church held its annual meeting in January via Zoom. At that meeting, the congregation learned about Gallen’s interest in becoming the new pastor at the church.

“It was really good timing for us,” said Crystalle Ebbinga, who was chair of the Call Committee. “We were able to get paper ballots to the congregation, who then submitted their votes by mail.”

Gallen was able to stop by the Zoom meeting and virtually met the congregation.

“That was very positive,” Ebbinga said. “And she was accepted as our new pastor by unanimous vote. We are looking forward to welcoming her.”

The church continues to hold services only online, but Ebbinga said due to Gallen’s age, she is very astute about technology and how to use it well. Ebbinga called Gallen “creative and able to pursue relationships” in every way possible.

“We recognize the challenges of online meeting, but this also is an opportunity for us to work together and learn about each other,” Ebbinga said.

Services at New Journey are held Sundays at 10 a.m., but they can be accessed throughout the week. The church also has coffee hour on Tuesdays and will start an adult study this month. Lenten Services are being held in cooperation with another Lutheran Church each Wednesday at 7 p.m.

In addition to welcoming Gallen to the church, the congregation also elected a new president of the council. Dave Bubke will serve in that position.

Ebbinga said the congregation is looking forward to all the changes.

“Elizabeth is young and energetic,” she said. “We are happy to have someone her age to lead us.”

Gallen is married and has two children. Amelia is three and Oliver is six-weeks old.

“One thing is for sure,” Ebbinga said. “They will have a lot of surrogate grandparents.”

New Journey Lutheran Church is located at 16748 E. Parkview Ave.