Pastor joel Burkholder

I am the son of Bob and Max and grew up in northern Indiana on a resort lake. As a result of serious health issues early in life, I was not physically active till my junior high years, when I was able to start playing sports, which I have loved the rest of my life.  I focused on sports and music during high school and college, both at Goshen College (IN), a Mennonite college, and then later at Carthage College(WI), a Lutheran school where I graduated magna cum

laude and played collegiate tennis.

After this, I went to seminary at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. After ordination, I served parishes in the Chicago area, Sacramento and Paradise, CA, and then to Austin, where I met Nicole, who became my wife, and four years later, Caleb, our son was born. He grew up in Arlington, went to Pantego Christian Academy and later graduated from University of Arkansas.  Nicole is a paralegal for a large law firm in Fort Worth and Caleb is a supervisor at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR.

While in the Austin area, I was a tennis professional at Lakeway World of Tennis, as well as working on a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, and then proceeded to a call in the Woodlands, before coming to Advent Lutheran in 2005, retiring in 2024.   I enjoy time with my wife and son, playing Pickleball, hiking, making music and travel in my retirement years — as well as coming back to Advent to worship and be a part of this community.

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