Pastor Eric was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and raised in Inver Grove Heights in a family rooted in Norwegian and Swedish heritage and solid Lutheran faith. Though a Minnesotan by birth, his family ties to Texas have kept him running up and down I-35 much of his life. He first moved to Lubbock in 1993 to attend Texas Tech University, graduating in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a minor in Business Management.

After college, Pastor Eric returned to Minnesota and built a 15-year career in Market Research and Competitive Intelligence, most of it with Thomson Reuters in their Legal & Regulatory division. A season of profound personal struggle and change eventually led him back to Lubbock in 2013, where renewed involvement at Shepherd King Lutheran Church awakened a sense of call to ministry. Through the TEEM Seminary Program and Wartburg Theological Seminary, Pastor Eric prepared for ordained ministry and was ordained at Shepherd King on November 14, 2020. He served as Vicar and then Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Clovis, New Mexico (2017–2025) and also as Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Levelland, Texas (2020–2025). People often joked that he “time traveled” to be in two congregations 90 miles apart — a season of ministry that taught him much about God’s grace across communities.

In 2025, Pastor Eric was called to serve Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Durant, Oklahoma. He brings with him a love of preaching that connects scripture to real life, an openness born of his own journey through brokenness and healing, and a passion for proclaiming God’s radical grace. Outside of ministry, Eric is an amateur architectural historian specializing in the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and those Wright influenced. He is also an avid buff of firefighting, trains, and Great Lakes shipping history. Eric deeply enjoys music of all kinds, classic comic strips, and road trips. Pastor Eric invites all people to join in a community that is honest about life and centered in Christ’s love.