Pastor Heckmann installed at Zion Lutheran

Pastor Michael Heckmann joined Zion Lutheran Church in Grant when he was installed Saturday afternoon, July 10.

He was born and raised in Kramer, Nebraska, on the eastern side of the state, but moved to The Grove, Texas when his father accepted a call to St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Heckmann found his passion for ministry in college when he was attending Concordia University in Austin, Texas.

He originally planned to study architecture, but he felt at the time the homework was too much, and he joked it would cut into time he would have preferred to spend playing video games.

The classes he encountered were split between architecture and computer science, and he estimated he had about an hour of homework each night, if that.

Heckmann considered his family’s history in ministry and his own experience with the church, and his sophomore year he changed his studies to a liberal arts degree, because they did not have a pre-seminary degree, with emphasis in Pre-Seminary Studies and Biblical Languages.

He studied Greek, Latin and Hebrew, as well as the Old and New Testaments and some psychology.

“I probably had quadruple the amount of homework, but I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Heckmann said. “The homework was no longer a problem, and the time spent on homework didn’t matter anymore because I enjoyed it.”

He graduated with honors in 2010 and enrolled in Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. 

The Seminary, he explained, is a four-year program. It starts with two years of coursework on campus, followed by a vicarage off-site and the final year of education back on campus.

Heckmann’s vicarage was at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. There he met his now wife Rebecca.

During his year at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Heckmann gained experience in leading the youth group, Christian education programming, leading Bible study, sick and home-bound visitation and other aspects of congregational life.

“It was a very enjoyable experience,” Heckmann said.

In June of 2014, Heckmann and his wife were married, and just under a month later, July 6, he was ordained into the holy ministry of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

Heckmann is a fifth generation pastor, with his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all ahead of him. His dad, John Heckmann, is still a pastor in Texas, but he got his start in Kramer.

Several other male relatives of his extended family, in fact, are pastors.

“When we had family reunions, it was always a Friday, Saturday, Sunday event,” he noted. “There was never a shortage of somebody to teach or lead a service on those Sundays.”

Having a lineage of pastors helped him decide what to do with his life and what he wanted to do with his future. He was always involved with the church as a pastor’s child, attending weddings, funerals, services and whatever other functions with which the church would be involved.

“Always being so involved and active with the church certainly helped push me in the right direction toward the Lord’s plan and the Lord’s calling,” Heckmann noted.

The church contacted Heckmann when they found themselves in need of a pastor, and after interviewing, prayer and conversation, Zion Lutheran called on Heckmann to lead the church.

Heckmann, Rebecca and their five-year-old daughter AnnaBella moved to Grant at the beginning of July.

His official installation service was Saturday, July 10 at Zion Lutheran, followed by a cake reception.

“It’s a very neat tradition, not only for the pastor, but also for the congregation,” Heckmann said.

Eight pastors besides Heckmann were present at the installment, including area Lutheran pastors, the District President, and even Heckmann’s father.

“It’s a big celebration,” he said. “We’ve got cake for days at the house, and homemade mints, but those will go pretty fast since I’ve already been snacking on them.”

The Heckmann family is ready to take root in Grant, and they have already begun to frequent the town’s new pool and Hastings Memorial Library.

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