Occupational History-1982-1990, Karate Instructor, Central Minnesota Karate; 1983-1990, Drug and Alcohol Counselor at Various Institutions; 1990-1997, Pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Glenville, NY; 1997-present, Director of Ministry at Prince of Peace Lutheran, Burnsville, MN.
Family-Married to Mary (Vankempen) for 13 years. 2 children, Bjorn, age 8, Kristian, age 5.
Parents: Mary and Roy live in Des Moines, IA. Dad is Pastor of St. John's Lutheran. Mom is writing, teaching and owns her own publishing company.
Siblings:
Kai-married to Patty, they have 3 children. Anders, Annika, Leif. He's a Lutheran Pastor in Columbus, OH.
Linnea-Married to Dan, no kids. She owns Alpha Health Partners, a medical practice consulting firm. She also does church consulting with Leadership Network and Bill Easum. Lives in Washington, DC
Solveig-Married to Peter, no kids. She's a Lutheran pastor in Portland, OR.
Erika-Married to Dave, they have one child. Hanson. She's a pastor in Aitkin, MN.
Hobbies: Getting kids to and from hockey practice and other activities, reading, writing (my family just finished writing a book that will be published early this fall. Title: For Everything A Season: 75 Blessings for Daily Life, Zion Publishing.) Hey, for those interested, I write a weekly Bible study that's distributed by e-mail. No catches. No moola exchanged. If you would like to receive it, send me a note at P_nilsen@hotmail.com
Compare life now with my vision of life in high school: I just wanted to survive the high school years. I think! I would have never guessed that Jeff Hottovy's nickname for me, "The Rev." would have actually come true.
Memories: Smoke, Drink, Gravel Pits, Drive Fast, Red Lights, Judges; Smoke, Drink, Gravel Pits, Drive Fast....Yep. That's about it.
There you have it!!