Pastor Galen grew up in Cheektowaga New York. He was baptized at St. John’s on September 10th, 1977. He attended St. Luke Lutheran Church for most of his youth years, but would later return to St. John’s shortly after graduating from Maryvale High School in 1996.
Out of High School Pastor Galen would attend Erie Community College where he majored in Criminal Justice. In 2001 Pastor Galen enrolled in the Pre-Seminary / Judeo Christian Heritage degree program at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York. In 2002 he was married to his wife Jennifer at St. John’s Lutheran in Depew. Pastor graduated from Concordia in 2004 and began his seminary career at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Cathartines, Ontario. He communed from Depew everyday and was fortunate enough to serve as a seminary fieldworker at St. John’s under the mentorship of Pastor Michael Blackwell who served St. John’s for over 30 years. In 2006, Pastor Galen was assigned to Redeemer Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Ontario Canada where he would serve as a Vicar for one year under the mentorship of Rev. Robert Krestick. In 2008, Pastor Galen graduated Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree with a focus on practical theology. In June of the year he was called as Associate Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and part time Campus Pastor for Lutheran Campus Ministry of Buffalo (mainly serving students at the University at Buffalo). In 2011, after celebrating Rev. Michael Blackwell’s retirement after 30 years of ministry at St. John’s, Pastor Galen was called as the sole pastor of St. John’s where he continues to serve.
Pastor Galen continues to have a deep sense of connection to Emergency services. In 2009 he was fortunate to attend and graduate from a Peace officer academy in Niagara county where he served a reserve law enforcement group as a patrolman and chaplain. Over the years he has done much course work in Critical Incident Stress Management and currently serves as a chaplain for the Depew Police Department, the Erie County Emergency Services (Chaplain ES-15), the Depew Fire Department and the Western New York Law Enforcement Helpline (chaplain). In addition, Pastor Galen is the Deputy Disaster Coordinator for the Village of Depew.
Pastor Galen and his wife Jennifer recently celebrated their 21st wedding. They are blessed with four amazing children, Branden (17), Ava (15), and the “Twinkies” (born during Holy week of 2016) Matthew and Adalyn (8). In spare time Pastor Galen loves to spend time at the family’s trailer at Sleepy Hollow in Akron, NY. and loves the idea of Cruise ship vacations!!