Clergy profile
Senior pastor has come a long way to answer the 'call'
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

Larry Wagner

Watching ocean waves crash against a sandy beach on a bright winter day reminds the Rev. Larry Wagner of how far he's come from where he was born and raised.

Wagner hails from Hazen, N.D., where winter blizzards leave deep snowfall, and belowzero temperatures keep the landscape white until late spring. The agricultural community grows a lot of wheat, and ranchers keep cattle and hogs.

When Wagner was a boy, entertainment meant church and school. That's right. That was where the fun was. The outdoors offered hunting, fishing and camping.

Wagner came from a bluecollar family. His father, Ted, had an eighth-grade education and worked for the Rural Electric Association as a lineman. His mother, Irene, graduated from high school and was a homemaker.

"No one in my family had ever gone to college," Wagner recalled.

The oldest of five children, he's still the only one with a college degree, he said.

He owes that to his church pastor, who once asked him if he'd ever thought of going into the ministry. He replied that he hadn't, but the question planted a seed in his heart.

Although Wagner originally went to college to study English, he felt the Lord calling him by the time he was a sophomore, he said. He prayed about it and responded that he would give it a try, but thought it would probably be a mistake, he said.

"I didn't want to do it, but when it's God's idea- you can run, but you can't hide," he said.

One reason for his trepidation was the cost of a college education. Money was always a problem for him as he sought his degrees, Wagner said.

"We didn't know it when we were growing up, but my family was poor," he said.

While attending school, he took out loans and worked hard at his studies and at earning money.

"I got sick and tired of being poor and not knowing where my next meal would come from."

After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Minot State College in North Dakota, Wagner received a master of divinity degree from Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. That wasn't easy for him, he said.

Many of the others in divinity school had gone to church universities where they'd already completed some of the required courses.

"I was behind the eight ball coming into seminary and had to catch up," he said.

Wagner's internship brought him to Faith Lutheran Church in Yucaipa, Calif., where he returned and served for three years after he graduated as a youth pastor.

In September 1978 he began his ministry at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, where he is currently serving as senior pastor. He retains the youth and family ministry portfolio as a part of his job description because he loves the work, he said.

Wagner is one of three fulltime pastors at Ascension, where there are about 3,000 baptized members. Ascension is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

The unpretentious Wagner is the divorced father of three adult daughters. He has never forgotten his humble roots, he said.

"I'm a caring, compassionate person, and I give a lot of hugs," he said.

Services at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1600 E. Hillcrest Drive, are at 6 p.m. Saturday and 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sunday. All are welcome. For more information, call (805) 495-0406.