Head Pastor

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Pastor Richard Craig Stephens was born in Houston, Texas on November 29, 1989. In December of 1989 he was brought to the waters of Holy Baptism by Rev. David Grassley while at Texas Children’s Hospital.

He grew up outside of Houston in Montgomery, Texas, where he attended the Montgomery public schools, where he participated in band, academic decathlon, and served as the videographer for several of the sports teams before graduating in 2008. After graduation, he attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he majored in Mass Communications, and worked on the LSU grounds crew before graduating in 2012.

Starting in the fall of 2013, he attended Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He served as a field worker at Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm, Ohio, and as the vicar of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin as part of his seminary training. He finished his Master of Divinity degree in May 2017.

In August 2018, he was ordained into the office of the Holy Ministry where he served the congregations of Grace Lutheran Church in Wood River and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Shelton, Nebraska.

In November 2022, he accepted the call and was installed as the Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Worth.

When not in pastor mode, he enjoys watching sports, particularly baseball, as well as studying American history, and reading and watching fiction of various types.