25 years for Pastor Mike Blair

This year, campus pastor Mike Blair celebrates his 25th anniversary of ordination and 19th year of service at Luther College.

“I’m very glad to serve [at Luther] and honored to be part of the ministry and community,” Blair said.

Ordained in 1985, Blair has been a pastor for three years longer than current senior students have been living and began working at Luther the year many first-years were born.  

“Working here ... keeps me alive and growing as a student,” Blair said. “Someone’s always reading something new to learn from and ask questions about. ... The students always generate great energy and ideas.”

A music education and psychology major from Augustana (Illinois), Blair did not originally intend to enter the seminary. In college, however, he realized that the church was a place where all his interests crossed and applied for seminary school his senior year.

“At first, [entering the seminary] seemed out of the question, but eventually I saw that the things I loved and the people whom I looked to as mentors and leaders were all pastors,” Blair said. 

After accepting the position at Luther in 1991, Blair fell in love with the community and people in Decorah.

“That’s what always struck me about Luther,” Blair said. “I find that when I travel places, I cross paths with people who have a Luther connection and show that generous and large-hearted quality that’s always been here. [This] community really knows how to rally around people and be supportive neighbors to each other.”

Some of Blair’s favorite activities at Luther are participating in Habitat for Humanity trips and student groups, as well as sharing his musical gifts with students through his guitar and his love for blues music.

“There is a generous heart and depth of spirit in this community that I saw when I first came here,” Blair said. “I find, because college was a very formative time in my life, that there’s a fulfillment in helping others during their time of questioning and life development.”

After 19 years of service at Luther and 25 years total, the community remains privileged to have pastor Mike Blair on campus and hopes he will remain for years to come.

At a reception held Friday, September 24 in Marty’s, Pastor Blair performed the following song he wrote about his ordination as a Lutheran pastor 25 years ago.

“I’ve got something to tell you, something I must say.
I became a pastor in a most unusual way.
I’m called to preach the Gospel and the forgiveness of sin.
But did I ever tell you I was ordained at a Holiday Inn?

It might sound unusual, it might seem like a shock,
It was a chain hotel where I became a leader for the flock.
There was a bishop and preachers and teachers right there with the next of my kin.
But did I ever tell you I was ordained at a Holiday Inn?”