On Saturday, November 17, Pastor Sean Lee was ordained during the church service at Southview Seventh-day Adventist Church in Minneapolis, Minn.
Pastor Lee was born and raised in South Korea. Thanks to the careful tutelage and prayers of his mother, Sean was baptized in 1993 in his home church in Korea. While attending Adventist academy, Sean learned more about Jesus and got involved in various school activities. One day, a friend introduced Sean to a King’s Heralds album from 1961, and Sean’s spiritual journey was reshaped. He fell in love with Christian music and became more involved with religious activities. During his senior year in high school, Sean felt God calling him to be a pastor. Upon graduating from the Adventist university in Seoul, South Korea, Sean joined full time ministry singing first tenor for the Golden Angel Singers of the Northern Asia Pacific Division.
In 2006, Sean immigrated to the United States and began pastoral ministry at the Baltimore Korean Adventist Church in Maryland. While serving in the Chesapeake Conference, Sean met his wife Helen Kim. They were married in 2009 while Hele completed her degree in dentistry. After completing his Master of Divinity at Andrews University, Sean accepted a call to work for the Santa Maria Korean Adventist Church in California. He served there for a few years before moving back to Michigan to serve as the Andrews Korean Adventist Church pastor while he completed a Master of Business and Administration from Andrews University.
Sean was called to the Minnesota Conference in 2015 to serve as the Associate Pastor for the Southview Adventist Church and Associate Youth Director for Young Adult Ministries for the Conference office. In 2018, Sean was asked to serve as the senior pastor for the Southview Adventist Church. “I am excited to serve in this role with the church ministry leaders,” said Sean. “I feel blessed because I can see the willingness of church leadership and the desire of the congregation to serve their community.” It is his prayer that the congregation can make a positive impact in the Twin Cities metropolitan area by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
In addition to serving the Southview Church, Sean loves to play and have fun with his two sons, Nathan and Joseph. He enjoys singing and producing music. He also enjoys serving his community as a police chaplain with the Minneapolis Police Department.
“Sean has been working towards ordination for several years, and it was with great pleasure that we held the ordination service for him in November, which signifies the church’s recognition of the call God has already placed on his life.”
The ordination service was organized collaboratively between Sean and the Minnesota Conference office team. The program had several special elements to mark this memorable occasion for Sean. His son, Nathan, shared the scripture reading found in Isaiah 42:7, which is Sean’s favorite verse. Tim Denniston, Southview Church’s first elder, presented Sean’s history before the congregation. Conference president, Elder Justin Lyons, preached the sermon and offered a special ordination prayer. Elder Brian Mungandi, Vice President for Administration, gave the ordination charge and presented Sean with his ordination certificate. It was a joyous occasion for all involved.
e-TNL Staff: Savannah B. Carlson, Director; Melisa Mauk, Website-editor
E-mail: scarlson@mnsda.com Website: www.mnsdanewsletter.wordpress.com
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As you visit with Gilead Tarus, two things quickly stand out. First, he has a great smile and second, he has an unusually calm, peaceful spirit. Both qualities come from a life grounded in Jesus Christ.
Gilead was surprised how God’s spirit worked in some of his classmates last year. “I saw people come to Christ that I never thought would make that decision,” he said. “People that were watching basketball videos 24/7 switched to watching sermons.”
Every year, Maplewood Academy sets a day aside to volunteer in the Hutchinson community. It is an all-school event – Classes are cancelled and every student and staff member goes out into Hutchinson to share a little bit of Minnesota Nice.
picking up trash at the McLeod County fairgrounds and on Highway 15; 
participating in the Harmony River Halloween Party; and raking for homes in the community.
While collecting food door-to-door for the city-wide Food Drive in October, a couple of our students met community members who needed a hand cleaning their yards. The students were excited to surprise these people by adding their homes to service project destination list.
Pastor Matthew Baker began his ministry in the St. Paul District, which includes the St. Paul Eastside and St. Paul First churches. Matthew is a graduate of Southern Adventist University. He comes to us with evangelism field school experience having conducted evangelist meetings, preaching series that incorporated the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Church. He also worked as a bible worker with Amazing Facts giving bible studies. Pastor Baker and his wife Nita are excited about Multicultural ministry.
Pastor Elizabeth McDonald is the Associate Pastor of the Minnetonka Church. Elizabeth is a graduate of Union College in Nebraska. She had a very active role in the women’s dormitory, Campus Ministries, and the Religion department. Elizabeth was involved in creating a bridge between Campus Ministries and the Religion department by involving students in the planning of activities and programs. She did her internship with Piedmont Park SDA church. She comes to us with a wealth of Young Adult Ministry experience from Union College.
Pastor Nakwan Kitching will serve Minneapolis First Church. His friends call him “Kwan.” He is a graduate of Oakwood University and more recently from the SDA Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs with Master of Divinity. He comes with field school evangelism, conducting home bible studies and small group work. His wife, Camille happens to have grown up in Minnesota. They have a daughter Nicolle.
The Minnesota Conference Office is looking for a part time receptionist to answer phones, monitor traffic and do various mailings or other projects as assigned. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume and references to Savannah Carlson, Human Resources Director via email at 
The Minnesota Conference administration is excited to announce that on January 1, 2018, Pastor Shelina Bonjour officially began her new position as the Minnesota Conference Youth Director.
Shelina has a love for youth of all ages, and a special place in her heart for summer camp. In her various pastoral roles, Shelina has been involved in Pathfinders, including restarting a club, training youth in evangelism and outreach, running the youth department during camp meeting, directing Vacation Bible School, organizing city-wide outreach events, and much more. Prior to becoming a pastor, Shelina spent multiple summers working in various summer camps, in a variety of roles including worship leader, parent liaison, counselor, communications director, department head, spiritual life director, associate programming director, and camp pastor.
Shelina was commissioned on Sabbath, December 9, 2017 at the Pathways Adventist Church. Her favorite Bible text, Psalm 37:23-24, is meaningful to her because, ““This verse reveals the greatness of my God. The Creator of the Universe is guiding my journey. While He is King, He is also the closest Father, who cares about everything that shapes my life. I find hope here, for though I have the best of intentions, I mess up and fail often, but God’s love remains constant. God never lets go of His children, and that is that grace of Jesus that I want to share with the world.”
The Northern Light 