Sveoms became involved in church, community

There are many things that kept Pastor Steve Sveom in Staples for 24 years, many of them involving community. “I had not a clue that it would last this long,” Sveom said about his tenure as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church. “I never came to a place where I felt the urgency to move.”

Sveom’s personal beliefs as a pastor fit in with the goals of the church.

“I believe as Christians, we are people blessed by God. He equips us and enables us to bear blessings to others,” said Sveom. “We are blessed by God, we have the responsibility to be a blessing to others.”

Earlier this year he announced his retirement plans and Sveom and his wife Toni are moving to Maplewood. Part of that is to be closer to their children and grandchild, but also for the sake of the congregation and the incoming pastor. 

“I don’t want the new pastor to feel undermined,” if a family asks him to officiate a funeral, for example, said Sveom. “The church has a strong non-involvement policy for former pastors, it’s in everyone’s best interest.”

On Sunday, Nov. 20, Faith Lutheran Church will hold a final service and open house lunch for Steve and Toni before they move. The service will begin at 10:45 a.m. and a program honoring the Sveoms will start at approximately 11:15 a.m. with the lunch to follow.

“I’m not really big on being the center of attention,” Sveom said about the retirement service and lunch, “But it’s an important part of being able to provide some closure, give me and the people in the congregation a chance to say good bye.”

Sveom came to Faith Lutheran in 1992, after preaching in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Bemidji. In all, he has spent 36 years in the ministry.

From the very beginning, Sveom said the congregation was supportive of new ideas and community involvement. “They were insistent on being open and engaging with the community through activities and programs,” said Sveom. 

Some examples of that involvement included holding funerals for people who weren’t members of the church or Sveom’s involvement with the Staples Area Food Shelf. Sveom said the church congregation is one of the biggest supporters of the local food shelf, of which he has been a board member for many years.

He was also encouraged to get involved in other community groups; Dollars For Scholars, Staples Motley Area Arts Council, Care Ministry and Staples Motley Beyond Poverty. He became a big baseball booster and helped through the community education program. Sveom was on the founding committee for the Central Minnesota Boys Choir.

He often took calls for Lakewood Health System if a family needed a pastoral visit to the hospital.

Despite all those commitments, in addition to his regular pastor’s job, Sveom said “I never had a feeling of having my hands tied. I just wanted to be effective in the community and make it a better place.”

Sveom said he’s not as busy with the many church functions because people of the congregation take the initiative for most activities, such as the election night lutefisk supper and the Thanksgiving Day dinner.

“I appreciate how members of the church are engaged in the community, not just making things happen in the church, they go beyond what a congregation needs to do,” said Sveom.

“I can be supportive but I don’t have to do everything,” he said.

An example is the Staples Ministerial Association and the CARE Ministry meals. Sveom said the meals started with his church sponsoring meals for tech college students. Through his involvement with the ministry, it morphed into the monthly CARE community meals. 

“Others are responsible for that growth, but it’s grown tremendously,” said Sveom.

Within the church, Sveom said “I always tried to find something new or challenging to be involved with, so it didn’t become stale for others or for me.”

He said staffing and programatic changes kept him going and he tried different lectionary patterns and readings to keep things interesting. He looked forward to changing the pace of his services with baptisms, special music and “not get totally locked in to one pattern of doing things,” he said.

Another reason for the lengthy stay in Staples for the Sveoms was the opportunities their children had through the school system, such as technology, speech and sports.

“The teachers connected with the students, the kids had other adults in their life to support them,” said Sveom.

Toni Sveom was also connected through the school, as a teacher and “utility player,” as she put it.

She taught in both Staples and Motley Elementary schools, ranging in grade levels from third through sixth grade. She also worked with ECFE, kindergarten readiness, Title I and English Language Learners in Staples, Motley, Verndale and Bertha-Hewitt. “It’s near and dear to my heart,” Toni said about her teaching involvement.

Even after retiring from teaching, Toni was involved in creating and coordinating the development enrichment program. 

“That was absolutely a marvelous experience working with kids who benefited from the enrichment,” said Toni. “I loved the diversity of my positions.”

Although she has already retired from teaching and is mostly moved to their new home, the Nov. 20 event will also be a farewell for Toni. 

“It’s going to be heart-wrenching,” she said. “Because of the size of the community, you become very very immersed in the many facets of the community. It’s a very bittersweet leave-taking, not without much emotion.”

“I know how well loved and respected he is and how much he will be missed,” said Toni. “It’s going to be difficult, the congregation is our family and to leave the family is not a cool thing to do,” she said.

But they have their own family to spend more time with and they’re now open to new possibilities. Both Toni and Steve said they made a commitment to do nothing professionally for three months after they move, then stay open to finding their next step. 

“I can’t see us being uninvolved,” said Steve.