Pastor Raymond W. Wade - Interim Pastor
In the Beginning...
Both my wife, Susan and are natives of San Diego. My family resided in Pacific Beach until I was about 12 years old, and then moved east, near San Diego State University. Susan’s family lived in the Fletcher Hills area of El Cajon. Susan and I met at SDSU and were both music majors. I completed my BA in Music Education in 1966 and began my first career in the fall of that year, teaching music in the San Diego Unified School District. Susan and I were married at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in La Mesa (her home church) in January of 1967.
In June of 1968, a major change occurred in our lives when I was drafted into the U. S. Army. Following basic training at Ft. Ord, California, I joined hundreds of thousands of others in the Viet Nam conflict, completing active duty back in the states, at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Following release from active duty, I took another position with San Diego Unified, again teaching music at the Jr. High level.
Our older son, Jeff, was born in 1971, and the family grew again, when our daughter, Adrienne was born two years later. During this time I also was involved in directing the church choir programs in several churches in the San Diego area -ALC, LCA, and LCMS. My last position was that of the Music Director of Clairemont Lutheran in San Diego.
In the summer of 1977, Susan and I packed all our worldly belongings in a rented truck, attached our car behind, and along with Jeff and Adrienne we headed to Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Susan was pregnant with our third child, Christopher, who was born in Dubuque in March of 1978. The years we were in Dubuque turned out to be our young family’s great adventure.
In the summer of 1980, we returned to California where I was engaged in a year of internship at Christ Lutheran Church in Visalia, California, in the Central Valley. This was a fourth year internship and the congregation in Visalia wanted to make a change from the internship program to calling an associate pastor, so we remained in Visalia where I served as the youth and education pastor for another three years.
The time spent in Visalia was very productive and prepared me for my first position as a solo pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Anaheim, beginning in October of 1984. Grace was an older congregation in a neighborhood that was experiencing ethnic change. At the same time, Grace had both a day school and a pre-school, and it was through these that the congregation grew from 1985 until 1989. During our time in Anaheim, one more baby graced the family, Katey, making it a sextet. Susan served as the Music Director of Grace Lutheran during our last several years there.
Recent History:
In 1992 The Rev. Bob Miller, who was Bishop of Pacifica Synod approached me about serving at Eden Lutheran in Riverside. The solid lessons learned along with rich experiences during the eight years of servant leadership on my own enabled my confidence to grow, preparing me for the move to Eden.
During our 15 years at Eden, I have been involved in a number of additional areas of ministry, including supervising intern pastors for a period of four years, expanding our ministries into the community, and beginning a Cursillo Community at Eden. Eden has also developed a closer relationship with our synod over the years. Currently we are involved in the Natural Church Development process which I expect to bear some good fruit in the years to come. Susan is currently serving as Eden’s Music Director, planning and leading the adult choir, Praise Worship team, and participating in the handbell choir along with myself.
Jeff is a recent graduate of the Art Institute in California. Adrienne is married to Angel Trujillo and we have two lively grandchildren, Ryenne and Danny. Adrienne works for the City of Riverside Utilities Department. Christopher is now in New York City, working at restaurants and hoping for a break into musical theater, and Katey is in her second year at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. My Mom, Jeffie Wade, lives in Eugene, Oregon, near my sister and brother-in-law.
Now we are off on a new adventure in leading First through “transition” as we ready ourselves for a new “calling” in Christ.
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