Answering the Call: Pastor Tanner Sutcliffe settles into ministry at Risen Savior Lutheran

Pastor Tanner Sutcliffe and his wife, Caelin

Pastor Tanner Sutcliffe has taken over pastoral duties at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, bringing with him a fresh perspective of God’s word and a strong urge to build a better community together. 

Since the age of 13, Pastor Tanner Sutcliffe of Risen Savior Lutheran Church has known he wanted to spend his life in ministry. 

“This came, I think, from my first solo walk through the Scriptures, when I began to really consider for myself the weightiness of the truth of the faith,” he said.

Before taking the time to read the word of God for himself, Sutcliffe knew he had faith, but seldom stopped to consider how significant it was that God died for our sins. 

“He is still at work undoing the fallenness of the world even to this day. When that hit me, I couldn’t shut up about it, and I knew I’d have a hard time in any profession that would ask me to keep quiet about Jesus,” Sutcliffe said.

After completing high school, Sutcliffe took his first leap into faith. 

“My original plan, not really knowing my abilities or having a firm direction yet, was to leap into full time foreign mission work as soon as I graduated high school, but my mother very wisely requested I at least go to college first,” he said.

Taking his mother’s advice, Sutcliffe joined Arizona Christian University to learn more about God’s word. 

“It was a great thing she did for me, because in my studies at Arizona Christian University, I learned so much more about life and God’s Word, and it’s actually the deeper study of that Word that drew me to the LCMS where I serve today,” Sutcliffe continued.

Learning of ways to serve God in his own country, Sutcliffe began exploring options right at home. 

“I became a member of an LCMS church in 2018, where I got involved in the Youth Group immediately, and in time I came to lead that group and my pastors asked if I would consider the pastoral office. I was honored by consideration for this role, and upon looking into the pastoral office, I indeed felt called into it,” he said.

In 2021, Sutcliffe packed up his life and headed to St. Louis where he studied at Concordia Seminary for four years. 

“The third year was my vicarage, which is basically like an internship, and I was selected to serve and learn under the esteemed Rev. Ryan Roehrig at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll, Iowa. It was there that I got my first real taste of life in the Midwest,” Sutcliffe recalled.

The path through college made Sutcliffe question if this was his calling. 

“There was a time in early college that I had written off the idea of being a pastor. I had run into my first few instances of Scripture seeming to conflict with something I was raised to think, and I began to feel uncomfortable with teaching other people something that I myself was not sure I was understanding rightly,” Sutcliffe said.

This was also the time in his life that Sutcliffe was learning how God can serve in almost every profession, not just ministry. 

“I considered using my love of literature and my training in business to open a Christian publishing company, but I was called back to considering the pastoral office when the pastors of the Lutheran Church I joined made a personal call upon my heart,” he said. 

Sutcliff pushed through and completed all four years of schooling, graduating last May and received a phone call shortly after. 

“I received a call to serve at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, and my wife, Caelin and I feel like we’ve hit the jackpot by being called here,” he said. 

Caelin and Tanner are just shy of their one-year wedding anniversary and are excited to spend their first winter in South Dakota. 

“With me coming from Pheonix, Arizona, and her coming from Mansfield, Texas, this will be an exciting winter for us,” he said. 

In their free time, the couple enjoy hiking, board games, reading, old movies, road trips and are learning to play piano.

While just getting started, the couple is thankful for the welcome they have received.  

“I am just two months in, and I am loving what I get to do, and the church has showered Caelin and I with affection and care,” he said.

While he has preached in Arnold, Missouri, and Carroll, Iowa, Sutcliffe doesn’t feel he has a typical leadership style. 

“I’m familiar with different leadership modes and archetypes from my business schooling, but while some of my business skills have proven useful for ministry, at the end of the day the church should not be run like a business because it’s not a business. Neither can it be run like a military unit, or a community club. The church is unlike any other organization in the world, and its leadership should reflect that,” he said.

Bringing community members together is one of the most important parts of leadership to Sutcliffe. 

“Our leadership is as different as we are as people. I like to teach, I like to listen, I like to tell stories, I like to explore church history with others, and I like to pray for people, but I do all these in my own way. I’m afraid the only way someone will get a sense of my leadership style will be to see for themselves,” he continued.

Meeting all the members of the church is something Sutcliffe strives for and he has been meeting everyone through offerings at the church. 

“Beyond the Service, I am privileged to lead Bible study on Sunday, I lead Confirmation Class for middle schoolers hoping to become members on Wednesday nights, on Thursday nights I am currently offering New Member classes and I’m looking into starting a “Bible 101” class for beginners and a more advanced discipleship class for those ready to go deeper. I get to record special services for the local TV program Main Street Living, and lead the occasional chapel at Sioux Falls Lutheran School,” he said.

Sutcliffe feels learning to be the best pastor at Risen Savior Lutheran Church comes from speaking with the congregation and finding out their needs firsthand. 

“I have been meeting members by running through our membership list and meeting members in their homes to learn more about them and hear how I can be the best pastor I can be for them. I also run through that list every morning to pray for the individual needs of the individual people who have become members,” Sutcliffe said.

Sutcliffe extends an open invitation to anyone thinking of joining the Risen Savior Lutheran Church. 

“If anyone is looking for a new church, here’s my pitch: at Risen Savior Lutheran, you’ll get Jesus. We don’t water Him down when His Word gets hard or strange or uncomfortable for us, and at the same time we don’t shy away from proclaiming His radical love and forgiveness to all sinners like us. We are His church, established by Him alone, intimately connected to His faithful people throughout all the ages, and reliant upon Him alone to this day. We are not perfect, and we don’t pretend to know everything, but we are faithfully led by Christ, and together we receive,” he said.