The Rev. Heidi Hester came to serve as Pastor of Hope Lutheran in November of 2021, and is glad she is back home in Montana. While Pastor Heidi moved multiple times with her family while she was growing up, Montana was always “home base,” and she excited to settle back down here in Bozeman. She looks forward to unveiling God’s work in the Gallatin Valley through the ministries of Hope Lutheran!
Pastor Heidi has been a Lutheran since her baptism at St. John’s Lutheran in Helena. She followed her love of music to Pacific Lutheran University where she graduated, not in music, but in Communications/Public Relations. God had some other plans for her as she ended up serving two congregations in the Pacific Northwest as Director of Youth and Family ministries. Her journey continued when she moved to Southern California to pursue her career in public relations, however she was sidetracked by a short stint working at CBS Inc. in the legal department as an Executive Assistant. But it was during that time that she heard the call to go to seminary, using all of the varied experiences CBS had taught her. Attending Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California she served congregations in the Bay Area and Hawaii, and was ordained on May 25, 2003 at St. Andrews Lutheran in San Mateo, California.
Her first call was to Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and Preschool in Whittier, California. She then joined the Pacifica Synod’s Office of the Bishop staff in 2009 as Assistant to the Bishop where she worked with 120 congregations and ministry sites in the areas of Mobility (working with congregations in transition), Candidacy (assisting those who are seeking to join the rosters of the ELCA), Worship, Theological Education, Pastoral Care, Campus Ministry and Outdoor Ministry. After seven years serving the synod, Pastor Heidi received a call in 2015 to serve Trinity Lutheran Church and Sonshine Preschool in Pleasanton, California.