Growing on the Prairie
Chamber Member Highlights
Pastor Mike Troen 
Shalom Church
An easy date to remember; 10-10-2010 was the opening of Shalom Community Lutheran Church located on East 5th St. in downtown Starbuck. Although they began meeting at the Starbuck Community Center, they remodeled a former mechanic’s shop and made it home to their welcoming church.
Three years ago, Pastor Mike Troen came on board full time. Mike is well known in our area as he is a beloved science teacher at Minnewaska HS, and he continues today teaching one college level class at the high school. As Mike put it, “I was a full-time teacher/part-time pastor and am now a full-time pastor/part-time teacher.” So many parishioners refer to his wonderful illustrations of faith using science demonstrations to make the point. He is also the interim pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church approximately 9 miles west of Starbuck. Follow this link for a great explanation of Mike’s personal journey.
Shalom has one full-time position and two part time positions: one each in music and finance. They have approximately 50 members and are very involved in the Starbuck community. They have adopted Holly Ridge, an assisted living facility in town, as one of their special ministries along with India missionaries, supporting home-schooling initiatives and a local food program. Pastor Mike is also involved with the Pope County Ministerial, a dynamic group of local pastors.
Pastor Mike emphasized their desire and availability to come alongside anyone hurting in our community, needing help, needing support and friendship. He is humbly proud of the outpouring of love he’s seen from his parishioners as needs have arisen.
Shalom’s hope is to be a part of our community and proclaim the Good News of a life following the Lord. They want to “love God, love others, serve well”.
They are members of the Starbuck Chamber because they are an important part of our community and want to be known as being there for others. They have land to grow if that comes in the future. As Pastor Mike said, “We don’t just want to survive, we want to thrive!”
starbuckchamber@gmail.com