Town Talk with pastor Ann Marshall

Pastor at Zoar Lutheran Church

8/8/2012

Ann Marshall, 53, is the community pastor at Zoar Lutheran Church. The church is located at 314 Indiana Ave. in Perrysburg. She lives in Rossford.

1. What do you like best about your job? I love the people of God and serving alongside them. I especially like working with the various outreach/helping ministries of Zoar.

2. How long have you worked at the church? 5 years 3. What's your favorite thing to do for fun in Perrysburg? I enjoy Harrison Rally Day, the farmers' market and eating all the great restaurants.

4. What did you want to do for a living as a child? I wanted to be a social worker. I have a bachelor's degree in social work and was a social worker for 11 years before entering to seminary to study for the ordained ministry.

5. What is your hidden talent? I am not sure I have a "hidden" talent. As a pastor, my life is pretty public. If you were to ask what my best gift was, I would probably have to say that it is preaching -- hardly a hidden talent!

6. What are your summer plans? To spend time with my family, my dog, and to begin practicing yoga again.

7. What sports will you be cheering for in the Olympics? I like the gymnastics events. Those athletes are amazing!

8. What's the best ice cream store in Perrysburg? Wow. I think this is a trick question.

9. What is something about your job that would surprise most people? I think people would be surprised at the many different skills required to be a pastor and the variety of tasks that can happen in a single day. In one day, a pastor might conduct a funeral for grieving family in the morning, do a Bible study for a group of senior citizens over lunch, visit a new mother in the hospital in the afternoon, and teach a group of teen-age confirmation class in the evening. And somewhere in between these events, one must return phone calls, respond to emails, plan worship, and talk with drop-in visitors. In one day, a pastor can be called on to be a comforter, a counselor, a teacher, an administrator, and a several other roles. It is exciting, rarely dull, sometimes exhausting and mostly wonderful. I love being a pastor!

10. When did you decided you wanted to become a pastor? Why did you decide to become a pastor? I always wanted to be a social worker. While in college at Ohio State I attended Lutheran Campus ministry and my campus pastor told me I should consider the ordained ministry. Women ministers were new in those days and I had never met one and never considered the possibility of becoming one. At his urging, I visited the local Lutheran seminary in Columbus and told him afterwards that I would consider it but that I still wanted to be a social worker. I completed my social work degree and went to work for The Salvation Army in Columbus. Over the next 11 years, numerous people told me I should consider becoming a pastor and at the age of 34, I decided I was mature enough to take on this awesome responsibility. I graduated from Trinity Lutheran Seminary at the at of 38 and have now been a pastor for 15 years, 10 years in Indiana, and now 5 years at Zoar.