The Rev. Joshua N. Sullivan was installed as the first pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Hamden, Connecticut, in an afternoon Installation Service held Sunday, October 3. The Rev. Chris Files, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Milford, and Dean of the Greater New Haven Conference of the New England Synod, ELCA, led the worship service attended by family and friends of Pastor Sullivan, members of the congregation and clergy from the Greater New Haven area and beyond.
“We are gathered to worship to praise God for countless blessings and to celebrate this new relationship between pastor and congregation, as we install The Rev. Joshua Sullivan as pastor in this community of God’s people,” Pastor Files said.
New Congregation, New Pastor
Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, located at 600 Shepard Ave., is a congregation born out of a merger that took place in January 2021 between two former Lutheran congregations in Hamden–Christ Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.
A Connecticut native, Pastor Sullivan most recently served as associate pastor at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, where he was ordained. Following a call process, he was elected to serve as pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran at a congregational meeting held August 8; he assumed his new pastoral duties on August 16.
“It is increasingly uncommon for communities of faith to take such courageous leaps of trust like Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran has done by coming together in Hamden,” Pastor Sullivan said. “Letting go of the past is painful, but the people of CGS believe that God is with them, and calling their first pastor is only the beginning of the wonderful things the Holy Spirit will do through them for their community.”
Well-Wishes from Near and Far
Assisting with the Installation Service were The Rev. Erika Wesch, pastor of Little Zion Lutheran Church of Telford, Pennsylvania, and Dean of the Upper Bucks Conference of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA, who read the lessons; and The Rev. Christopher McKinstry, pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, Limerick Pennsylvania, and Dean of the Upper Montgomery Conference of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA, who delivered the sermon.
During the service, Jon Kimnach shared greetings and congratulations from Pastor Sullivan’s former congregation and on behalf of the church’s pastor, The Rev. Dr. Phillip Krey: “The congregation of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, congratulates the congregation of Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Hamden, Connecticut, in calling The Rev. Joshua Sullivan to be your pastor. Having the privilege to have him lead and teach among us for nearly three years, we know that he will be a blessing to you, just as he was a blessing to us. On this day of his Installation, October 3, 2021, to be your pastor, we pray God’s grace and blessings on your ministry together as you proclaim and live out Christ’s gospel led by Pastor Sullivan’s holy thought and work,” Pastor Krey wrote.
Discerning God’s Call
Prior to entering the ministry, Pastor Sullivan trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking in 2007. He lived and worked as a painter and musician in New York City until 2012, when he began discerning God’s call to ministry. He earned his theological degrees from Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Master of Divinity, 2016) as well as from United Lutheran Seminary (Master of Sacred Theology, 2019).
Pastor Sullivan and his spouse, Madelyn Robertson, and their 11-month-old daughter, Simone, reside in Stratford.
To contact Pastor Sullivan, email him at Pastor@christgoodshepherdlutheran.org, or call the church office at (203) 288-3196.
Photo Caption:
Among the members of the clergy attending the October 3 Installation Service were (l-r) The Rev. Robert Bergner, Priest-in-Charge at Grace & St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Hamden; The Rev. Erika Wesch, Pastor of Little Zion Lutheran Church of Telford, Pennsylvania, and Dean of the Upper Bucks Conference of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA; The Rev. Christopher McKinstry, Pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, Limerick Pennsylvania, and Dean of the Upper Montgomery Conference of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA; The Rev. Joshua Sullivan, newly installed Pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran, Hamden; The Rev. Chris Files, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Milford, and Dean of the Greater New Haven Conference of the New England Synod, ELCA; and The Rev. Tim Keyl, Pastor of Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven, and Director of the Lutheran Studies Program at Yale Divinity School.