Pastor Carlson has been the pastor at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Temperance since August of 2011. He is originally from East Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has served as a local pastor in multiple pastoral settings since 1989. He became an ordained elder within the Central Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1992. He is a graduate of Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Northwestern University class of 1990. Pastor Carlson has served churches in Illinois, Cleveland Ohio and Michigan. He graduated from Grand Valley State Colleges in 1983 with a Bachelors of Business Administration. His undergraduate major was marketing with a minor emphasis in public administration. Rev. Carlson was the first pastor to exchange pulpits with the Rev. Gift C. Machinga from Mutare Zimbabwe in 1991. That initial exchange mission trip introduced him to African culture and has shaped his outlook on Pastoral ministry to the present day. Since that time he has visited Malawi seven additional times. He and his wife have hosted Malawian pastors into their home on three different occasions. He maintains a special friendship with Bishop Smart Y. Msinkhu who he has known since his first visit to Malawi in 1991. Pastor Carlson’s passion is to help people understand how they can be part of transforming lives with fresh water wells in the most remote parts of sub-Sahara Africa. He is an active member of the Toledo Rotary Club. He has served as a polio speaker raising funds to help eliminate the curse of the dreaded polio virus. The summer is a special time of serving his local church and the Pioneer Boy Scout Camp as their staff chaplain each summer.