Lohman sowing seeds, hoping a church will grow

After near-death experience, Minooka man ordained to give life to Lutheran church

In July, the Rev. R. Scott Lohman of Minooka was ordained as a church planter to plant a Lutheran Church in Minooka.

The ordination took place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Downers Grove, Ill., on July 1, 2012.  Immanuel is one of the more than 6,000 churches of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

Pastor Lohman’s father, the Rev. John Lohman, who is also a Lutheran pastor, was involved in the laying-on-of-hands portion of the ordination service.

Several people from the Minooka area were present at the ordination of Pastor Lohman, since the Lohman family has lived in Minooka since 2006.

Lohman is married to Gina Lohman, who is a substitute teacher in Minooka School Dist. 201. The two of them have four children — Courtney, who is a 2012 graduate of Minooka High and is attending Hope College in Michigan; Robert, who is a senior at Minooka High; Jack, who is an eighth grader at Minooka Junior High School; and Jonathan, who is a fifth grader entering Minooka Intermediate School.

Pastor Lohman is continuing his studies through Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., where he is part of a distance-learning program called the Specific Ministry Pastor Program. The Specific Ministry in which he is involved is his call to plant a church in Minooka.

In the fall of 2011, all of this nearly didn’t come to fruition. Pastor Lohman was struck ill in November with a life-threatening situation when the aorta of his heart became dissected. Most people who have this situation occur do not survive.

An aortic dissection is when the walls of the lining of the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body, became separated, and then the aorta typically bursts. Actor John Ritter, of “Three’s Company” fame, died of this condition.

With Pastor Lohman, the dissection reduced or stopped blood supply and caused issues with his kidneys, as well as leading to a mild stroke. His friends and family were told to say their goodbyes, but through God’s grace, Pastor Lohman lived.

After surgery and nearly a month at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, and then a month at two rehabilitation hospitals, Pastor Lohman returned home to continue recovering. By March of 2012, he returned to service in the Lord’s work.

Pastor Lohman and his family are working on establishing Bible classes and other informational classes, with the hope that God will increase His church in the Minooka area. One class has begun to meet on a regular basis.

Additionally, Pastor Lohman will be getting further training on church planting, as he attends a Church Planter Formation Center at LakePointe Church in Hot Springs, Ark.

Pastor Lohman will be there from mid-September through mid-December in order to best learn how to work with the Minooka community in an effort to share God’s grace and mercy.

Pastor Lohman can be contacted at (630) 379-1477 or (815) 467-9633 to further discuss his ministries.