Winter - 2008

Thank you for visiting our web site!

I am Rev. Mitchell Otto, the Pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, and my goal here is to anticipate some of your questions about our congregation and answer them. Of course, more than that, I would like to invite you to worship with us this coming Sunday morning. This web site is full of information for you to encourage you to come and worship God.

If you have read this far, you are probably someone who is moving into this area and looking for a church home--maybe even a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod home. Most of our new members tell me that they looked at this web site before they ever visited our church. Maybe you have looked over the web site, learned a few things abut our congregation, but now you would like to know little bit about me, the Pastor.

The first thing you should know about me is what it is that I believe I am to be doing as the Pastor of this congregation. To that end, a few years ago, I wrote a personal mission statement. No, do not shake your head. This is a real mission statement in that it comes pretty close to accurately describing what I am doing. It goes like this:

“They will hear the Good News of Jesus

and know who they are.”

This statement is boiled down from three or four pages of values, Bible verses, and personal reflection. Yet, it describes what I am reaching for when I am preaching from the pulpit on Sunday mornings, teaching classes, or visiting with people. I am always surprised at how many Christians do not know the simplicity and the depth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. More than that, I am stunned by how many Christians do not know what the Gospel is a free gift from God. Therefore, my work centers on sharing the Gospel and apply it to the lives of the people.

So, who am I? I am a Baptized (10/30/1960) child of God through Jesus Christ. This means that in Baptism Jesus delivered a gift to me and made a promise to me that I will be with Him forever. This is good news. I want you to know the same about yourself.

I have a wife and two children. Mary, my wife (m. Aug. 1983), is God's greatest gift to me after life and salvation. My daughter Allison is a in college. She and her brother Dan, a Senior in High School, are also wondrous gifts from God. As a husband and father, it is my greatest responsibility to see that these three people hear the Gospel of Jesus' death on the cross for their sins and His resurrection from the dead for their eternal lives.

We are originally from Minnesota, the Twin Cities area. We moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana in the spring of 1991 so could I attended Concordia Theological Seminary. I was what they call a "second career man." That is because I was in my early thirties when I started my seminary training. I spent my Vicarage year in Elma, Iowa, graduated from the seminary in 1996, and received my first Call to Trinity Lutheran Church in Chariton, Iowa. I was their first Pastor.

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church here in Coralville Called me to be their Pastor in November of 1998. I accepted the Call in January of 1999 and was Installed on February 28th. We celebrate the anniversary each year with Peanut M&Ms. But that is another story. Since then, I have earned a Doctorate of Ministry (2007) from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

Though you can never satisfy everyone, we are about as "Missouri Synod" as you can be. The fact that Coralville is "on the edge of the mission field" means that we have to remember that we have guests in worship every week. Therefore we take it for granted that there are people present on Sunday morning who do not all know our specific worship practice (or the doctrine behind it). Realizing this, we go out of our way to keep everyone on the same page in worship, take time to explain things as we go along, and we are not too upset if we make a mistake or have to pause to laugh at ourselves (mostly me). We make no excuses for using the hymnal, The Lutheran Service Book , for our worship services, following what is called a "liturgical" format, or valuing the Gospel of Jesus Christ above all else.

I know that every congregation calls itself "friendly", but when our members join the congregation most all of them have mentioned to me that they were first impressed with how many people came up and talked to them when they first visited. Part of that, I believe, is because we are a congregation of people who have moved here from some place else. This is the nature of the community and our congregation reflects it. As visitors, you will fit right in.

I do hope that you come and worship with us, learn more about us, and hear the Gosple of Jesus Christ. You can email me at popcoralville@msn.com or call me at 319-338-1842. I love to talk about the Gospel and about this congregation.

In Christ,

Pastor Otto