Rev. Christopher Brandt: Retiring steadfast Lutheran leader looks back at ministry

Christopher Brandt was born the son of a Lutheran pastor in Sioux City, Iowa. He was in the middle of eight children. 

He jokingly said, “You know what that meant. No one remembered your birthday.”

“My father was very passionate about this (the ministry). It’s what I always knew I would do. Being Lutheran, we believed in training for pastors, so we went to school,” he explained. 

He went to a Lutheran grade school in central Iowa, a Lutheran high school in Concordia, Mo., and continued his education with a Bachelor of Science in Education from Concordia Teacher’s College in Seward, Neb. He concluded his formal education at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., in 1981 with a Master of Divinity degree.

As part of the master’s program he vicared in Baldwin, Mich.

“It was the ninth poorest county in the nation, a rural black community that had been brought from Detroit in the days when Ford Motor Company made the bodies of the Model T out of birch. When the product line changed from wood to steel, many of the families stayed, but there was no employment. Here I was, knocking on doors trying to get this mission congregation started. It was interesting,” he said.

While on his vicarage he met his future wife, Kimberly. They are celebrating 40 years of marriage in June of 2020. 

Rev. Brandt’s first pastoral assignment was at Palmer, Neb., a small community of 290 people. 

“I arrived in the midst of an economic meltdown. Interest rates were at 18.5 percent. Farmers that had debt, which most did, couldn’t survive. The bank ended up owning almost everything,” he explained. Rev. Brandt spent three and a half years in Palmer.

His next assignment was in Bridger and Belfry, Mont. He served those two congregations for nine and a half years and then took a call to serve congregations in Havre and Chinook for three years. In January of 1997 he took the call to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lovell.

 He said there has been a transition in the congregation throughout those 23 years. 

“Looking back, I have baptized and confirmed hundreds of children and adults,” he said. “The ethnicity of the congregation has changed. When I came, there were still members who had been born in Russia. Much of the congregation was of German-Russian descent. As they died, new members arrived who were not.”

Rev. Brandt has been glad for the years the congregation supported mission projects.

“The church collected funds for missionaries in various places, Africa, China, Russia and here in the United States. They need books in Africa, and so we sent them hymnals, Bibles and Catechisms. Several of the mission groups have sent representatives who have helped us to understand the work,” he recalled.

St. John’s Lutheran Church celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. 

“The celebration was very enjoyable. Our speaker for the anniversary service was the grandson of the first pastor, Rev. Louis Spitz, who came in 1918,” he said.

Pastor Brandt is retiring at the end of April. He is ending his formal ministry at a unique time in our nation with the events of the COVID-19 coronavirus. He shared some of his thoughts on the subject.

“This is the first time that our government, in the name of health, has effectively closed the churches. It has been without opposition; some closed before they were asked. I don’t like where this has gone. The freedom to worship has been the cornerstone of our nation. That freedom has been relinquished to the government. A precedent has been established. How do you get a freedom back?”   

Pastor Brandt has held a Bible study at New Horizons Care Center for the past 23 years. The residents have enjoyed his teaching and miss him when he can’t be there, as well as a lot of their family members who have come to hear his lessons, also.

He has also served on the Ethics Committee of North Big Horn Hospital and is presently the chairman. 

“I tried to explain to people what the Ethics Committee did,” he said, “and came to realize that the committee, having had two cases in 21 years, was not functioning effectively.”

He spoke to the CEO, and it was arranged for Pastor Brandt to address an all-staff meeting to make them and the residents aware of the committee. Since that presentation the Ethics Committee has dealt with numerous cases. There are 14 members on the committee, including representatives from the community, doctors, nurses, administration, legal personnel and clergy.

For 17 years Rev. Brandt has been the director for the monthly USDA Commodities distribution, which is distributed out of St. John’s Lutheran Church. He also helped organize the Lovell Community Food Pantry that is housed in the United Methodist Church.

“If you are one of the hoarders, you could atone for this sin by donating some of your stash to the Lovell Food Pantry. There are many who could use these items,” he encouraged.

The Brandts have six children. They are all married and scattered around with the exception of the youngest, who is a junior at the University of Montana, Missoula. They have home schooled their children since they lived in Bridger.

“To home school one has to learn a structure. Kim did the teaching, and if they got stuck on something, I was the ultimate go-to person,” he said. “My family and I have had a great time here, fishing, hiking, hunting, dirt biking and snowmobiling. Yes, these were great experiences.”

Rev. Brandt and his wife Kim will be heading to Roberts, Mont., to begin retirement. They will be raising cattle, but “actually that’s Kim’s hobby,” he said. “She has 15 pairs.”

“Lord willing, and if my health allows, I may get to finish my quest.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “There are 840 lakes in the Beartooth Mountains. By my count 405 have fish. I have fished 263 of them and would like to visit the rest of them. But the ones that remain are getting more and more difficult to visit; some are 15 miles in by trail. Once in a while you catch a really nice one. I caught an eight-pound brookie once. And one time I caught a lake trout that weighed 23½ pounds.” One doesn’t have to guess where the Rev. Brandt will be found, at least for the first several years of retirement.

It won’t all be play, however. The Montana District President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has already spoken with him concerning pastoral duties in Montana. 

“The work goes on,” he said, “just a different venue.”

Looking back over the years of ministry, he simply said, “It has been fun.”

By Teressa Ennis