The Rev. Sharon M. Ruff Richter to be Formally Installed at Trinity Lutheran Church

Trinity Lutheran Church at 997 E. Walnut Street in Pasadena has called The Rev. Sharon M. Ruff Richter to serve as pastor.
Pastor Richter, who has been in the position since August, will be formally installed on Saturday, December 22, at 5:30 p.m., with a festive dinner celebration following. The Rev.  R. Guy Erwin, bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will preside, and the Rev. Eric Shafer, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, will preach. Local clergy from various denominations have been invited and many are expected to attend and process.
Pastor Richter is a second career pastor, having previously worked as a writer, editor and Chinese translator. She graduated in 2016 with a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and holds two prior Masters degrees in anthropology from Columbia University in New York. She is particularly interested in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, in cooperative social justice efforts, and in growing the church. In her spare time, Pastor Richter is also a mosaic artist. “I have great faith in God and also tremendous faith in  this Trinity congregation,” Richter said. “Trinity has  both an older group of members and a new and growing group in their young 30s. This gives me great hope for the future  of our ministry in Pasadena. Trinity is also musically and liturgically rich, which many churches in Southern California are not. And it has active social ministries, like the Trinity Food Bank, that are thriving and doing good for the community. All in all, I think this is a great place for me to land.”
Richter comes to Pasadena from Philadelphia, where her husband Dan is a prominent professor of early American history at the University of Pennsylvania. When asked what attracted her to this area, she reported she has roots and old friends here, having grown up in South Gate and attended California State College at Long Beach. Her father grew up in Pasadena and her mother grew up in Huntington Park.
For more information on Pastor Richter’s installation or on Trinity and its ministries, call the church office or Pastor Richter at 626-792-1212 or you may visit http://trinitypasadena.org and  https://www.facebook.com/Trinity-Lutheran-Church-106185109741744/