Pastor Ed Voosen
Born and raised in New York City, he attended Brooklyn Technical H. S., Pratt Institute and Wagner College. After Wagner he attended New York Theological Seminary and Princeton Seminary before being approved for ordination by the Lutheran Church, serving his first parish in Brooklyn, NY. In 1974 he was called to Bethel Lutheran Church in Auburn, Massachusetts.
During his youth, Pastor Voosen studied guitar and at the age of 14 became a member of the Musicians Union (local 802) in New York City. Before he was 18 he had played on the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, the Hotels Concord, Pierre, Waldorf-Astoria and Grossingers, all in New York. He was a member of the band, "The Capitols", which appeared twice on the CBS nationwide TV Show "The Ted Mack Amateur" Hour. He was also a member of a folk-singing trio which made numerous appearances at folk clubs in the NY area. Throughout college and seminary he taught guitar lessons at “Petersen’s House of Music”, a private studio, to help pay his way through school, learning to play the banjo at that time. In 1969 he founded and directed the "Pinecrest Folk Choir" which toured 10 times throughout the Eastern USA and completed two albums. His gift for music has been a major benefit in his service to the Lord.
In 1969 Pastor Ed married Ruth Sandberg and they have 3 children, Ingerlene, Liesl, and Paul.
Together Pastor Ed & Ruth perform concerts of folk songs, show tunes and comedy songs. They have led campfires and sing-a-longs at Camp Calumet for 35 years.
The Voosens also have a strong interest in travel and have led trips to Israel (8 times) and to the Oberammergau Passion Play (3 times) and to various sites in Europe, especially to Scandinavia and Germany where the Lutheran branch of the church has its roots. The Bethel Travel Group, coordinated by Pastor Ed, has also cruised to Bermuda, the New England Coast, in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean.
Camping is a summer hobby that has been a blessing to the whole Voosen family. They first camped at Calumet Lutheran summer camp on Ossipee Lake in New Hampshire in 1974 and have returned every summer (and sometimes in winter, as Calumet also has a year-round Conference Center, http://www.calumet.org/).
Under Pastor Ed's leadership Bethel has grown and thrived and has been innovative in the areas of music and computer use. Bethel first used computers in 1980 (before the IBM PC existed) and was written about in "Time" (Feb. 2, 1983 - small note and picture on last page), "The Lutheran" magazine and the Telegram and Gazette, Worcester. He can be heard each Sunday morning at 9 am on AM radio WNEB 1050 from Worcester, Massachusetts. This 1/2 hour broadcast, now in its 30th year, presents an excerpt from the previous Sunday's worship service.
For 20 years Pastor Ed served as secretary of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
CONCERNS, QUESTIONS, PASTORAL CARE If you are without a church desire pastoral care to deal with a challenge (such as sickness or loss) or information about Baptism, Marriage, First communion or Confirmation Email our pastor and he will respond.
Click here if you wish to contact Pastor Ed: voosen@charter.net