Pastor Marilyn Hanson was born and raised in northeastern Iowa and was one of four children in her family. She graduated from high school in West Union, IA, and then received her BA degree in elementary education from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA. After teaching for a short time, she attended the Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle, WA; Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN; and graduated from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA. with a Master of Divinity degree in June of 1980.
Marilyn was ordained as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on March 29, 1981 in her home congregation, Zion Lutheran Church in West Union. Her first call was to serve as pastor of the Hesper/Burr Oak Lutheran parish of rural Decorah, IA. She later became pastor of St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church of Holstein, IA. Then in December of 1992 she was called to serve as an Assistant to the Bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA and served in that position until recently. As the bishop's assistant, she worked with congregations and pastors in the call process, seminarians in the candidacy process, as well as developing the synod's first Lay School of Theology and doing advocacy work in the areas of global mission and world hunger.
Pastor Marilyn is the mother of two adopted children from China, Breanna and Meghan. Most of her free time is spent enjoying time with her kids.
Marilyn Hanson, Pastor