Faculty & Staff

Before Jeff Caithamer wanted to become a pastor, he wanted to be a teacher in a Christian school.

“When I was in high school, I wanted to teach junior high, because I saw that was a transitional time,” he says. “There was no guarantee students would stay in the faith. I wanted to help them maintain that in high school and beyond.”

Ultimately he was drawn to the ministry. Today, he’s Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, where he has served since 2009. That service includes an important role at the church’s school.

Pastor Caithamer leads devotions and chapel services for all grades. And he steps up his role with older students, taking them through biblical and theological studies culminating in 8^th grade catechism class.

“It’s what I’d always wanted to do,” he says. “The older they get, the more we talk about how the Bible and the theology they’ve been taught apply in modern real-world situations.”

What’s most gratifying to him is seeing those teachings sink in.

“It’s when kids move on to high school, but come back to talk about what they’re encountering and how they’re prepared to deal with it,” he says. “It’s when they say, ‘I can stand up for my faith.’ ”

Pastor Caithamer has a Master’s Degree in Divinity from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.