Meet Our Pastor

Pastor James A. Phillips was born the eldest of five children, to Ione and Austin Phillips. He was born and baptized in LaCrosse WI. LaCrosse is a typical mid-sized Midwestern city located along the Mississippi River, in what is affectionately known as “God’s Country.”

At the age of four, Pastor and his family moved into what became the family homestead, across the Mississippi in Minnesota, in a little town called Hokah, named after a great Indian Chief by that same name. That’s where he grew up and began his schooling. That’s also the general area where his family and much of his wife’s family still live. In fact his mom is still living in the house he grew up in, although it has changed a lot. Over the years the house grew with the family. The house that began as a simple four-room cottage sitting on three large city lots, overlooking the Root River, now boasts of having six bedrooms and three bathrooms and has become affectionately known as “Grandma’s Bed and Breakfast.”

With the sacrifice of his family and the encouragement of his home Pastor, E. G. Hertler, his grandmother Marie and his mom and dad, young James began the journey that was going to lead him, not to the White House but to the Pastoral Ministry. His schooling moved in that direction at Luther High School, Onalaska WI. There he met another man who became instrumental as a motivator in his education, Dr. Wayne Schmidt, who was principal of the High School at the time. It was also at Luther where young James met the young lady who was destined to become his bride, Janine Schaller.

After graduating from Luther, at the urging of those closest to him, young James moved on to Northwestern College in Watertown WI. Northwestern was the college preparatory school for ministry of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod at that time. Though College policy frowned on young men preparing for the ministry having a girlfriend and didn’t permit them to have a car for the first two years, James and Janine carried on a long distance romance that included letter writing and a fair amount of hitchhiking from Watertown to LaCrosse. Four years later when he graduated from Northwestern with a Bachelor of Arts degree, James moved on to the Synod Seminary at Mequon, again with the urging and support of those closest to him.

The next turning point came when, after seeking the permission of the Seminary President and then Janine’s dad, young James proposed and together James and Janine began to plan a winter wedding. On a very snowy night on December 27 of 1969, before a brave gathering of family and friends that was much larger than what they had planned, the young couple that had first met in high school, was finally married. Their first home was in Cedarburg, where Janine had taken her first teaching job, after graduating from U.W. LaCrosse, with a major in English and a minor in biology. The end of that school year carried them to Menomonee, WI. It was there that the young pastor-to-be served as a Vicar, what others would call an internship. At that time, the vicar stipend was only $305 a month, but the Congregation together with family and friends took good care of them. Overall, it was a good experience in which the young couple learned a lot, got a good taste of what the Ministry was all about, and made a lot of new friends.

After the Vicar year, James and Janine returned to Mequon, so that he could finish his ministerial training. It was during that time that their first child, a son they named James Joseph Austin Phillips, was born. James graduated in May of 1972 with a Divinity degree and “Call Day” that year set them on the next odyssey of their young lives. Pastor-elect James Phillips was called to serve two established congregations in the Northeast plains of Colorado, about 1200 miles from the young family’s nearest friend or relative. That wasn’t as bad as it might sound because it allowed the young couple to mature and grow even closer together and it also permitted them to make many new friends, some of whom they remain in contact with to this day. The good people of Trinity, Hillrose CO. and Zion, Fort Morgan CO. adopted them as family and treated them well.

While they were “Out West,” two more important things happened. Their daughter, Julie Marie was born, and they received their first taste of real mission work by helping to establish a new congregation in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, some 125 miles from home, a place once again where they made many new and treasured friends. A number of “Calls” came their way during their stay in Colorado. But it wasn’t until the time when little Jimmy and Julie were about to start school that the next big event happened in their lives. Pastor James received the Call to serve an established Congregation in Milwaukee WI. Little did they know when they made that journey from Colorado to Wisconsin in a blizzard snow storm in January of 1977, that Milwaukee, and Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church was to be their home, for more than a quarter of a century.

But God has been good! Changes have taken place in their personal family. To two “home-grown” children, they added two adopted children, Jonathon and Jessica, plus some other children who have adopted them; one from as far away as Brazil. To a family of four, they have also added 9 grandchildren, as well as a son and two daughters by marriage. Most recently they have added the first house they can really call their own.

God has been good! The quarter century has seen times of growth in the Congregation as well. A dream was fulfilled when as a Congregation we were privileged to own and operate a Christian Day School of our own, Risen Christ Lutheran School; first in partnership with our neighbor and the good people at Resurrection Lutheran Church and then on our own. The School’s eventual closing for financial reasons was a huge blow to the Congregation, both in morale and membership. In fact, one could argue that we are still trying to recover. But – God is still good! He’s blessed us with faithful families who have helped us stay the course. He’s added new young families to re-invigorate us. When leaders have gone to be with the Lord, or simply gone away, God has raised up new ones, to take their place. Through good times and bad, God has been good! He’s given us a Preschool of which we are very proud, in the good sense of the word; proud because of the new life it has helped breath in, because of the families and lives we’ve been able to touch, the seeds we’ve been able to plant, and — because of the children. They are a joy!

Finally there are two questions Pastor James is often asked. 1.) How would you describe or characterize Messiah Congregation? And 2.) What do you want on your Tombstone, meaning How do you want to be remembered?

To the first question his answer is, “Messiah Congregation is a family.” To some that may sound trite. To others it might sound ordinary. But it is what it is; it is what we strive for. There are times we do a better job of it than others. But it is our goal and we believe it is the way it should be, as we strive to live in Christ, for Christ and by His command “to love one another as He has loved us.”

To answer the second question some might suggest the epitaph, "James the Marring Man," because of the number of couples he has counseled and because of the number of weddings at which he's been privileged to officiate. Others might suggest, "James the Baptizer," because of his love for children and because of the number of Baptisms which he's been privileged to administer. While he can live with either designation, neither would be his first choice. His first choice would be, "He tried to make a difference." Working with little ones or adults, with individuals or with families, that's been his goal -to make a difference- to make a difference in the Name of and by the Love of Jesus Christ. And-God-willing, that will always be his goal and the way he is best remembered.