Pastor Jennifer Gonsalves

Pastor Jennifer Gonsalves
Pastor Jennifer Gonsalves preached her first sermon at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on March 21, 2018.

On March 21, 2021, Pastor Jen preached her first sermon at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waldo. She was installed on Sunday, March 28th.

Pastor Jennifer Gonsalves was raised in the Lutheran Church and felt the call to ministry from an early age. Attending Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, she majored in history and religion and spent a semester abroad exploring Greece and Turkey.  She spent her summers working for Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Ohio working as a Day Camp Counselor. She then attended Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC where she received her Mastors of Divinity and was ordained in 2013.

After seminary, Pastor Jennifer was called to Pennsylvania to serve St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church in Luthersburg and St. John Lutheran Church in Rockton.  In 2018, she was called to serve as associate pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, MN. In 2021 she accepted the call to come to St Paul’s in Waldo.

An avid traveler who loves exploring the beauty of God’s creation, Pastor Jennifer has hiked the Inca Trail in Peru, climbed sand dunes in Mongolia and watched baby elephants play in Kenya.  She also enjoys reading, theater and exploring local parks. She lives with her cat, Koda.