He and his wife, Rea, are incredibly grateful for the warm welcome they have received. They both love the people and look forward to the months ahead.
“Jesus said go into all the world and make disciples,” Sliper said. “What I’d like to see for the congregation is what I would call equipping of the saints for the work of the service.”
This goal of his can only be practically achieved by training leaders. Once he does that, they will be “released to form home fellowship groups.”
“Those people will eventually go out and conduct ministry,” Sliper said. “But as of right now, I’m at the point where I’m talking about it and presenting it as an idea and seeing what kind of response I get.”
In the meantime, he will continue preparing the Word of God in such a way that is down to earth and easy for the congregation to comprehend. It’s also of utmost importance for the sermon schedule to follow the Association of the Free Lutheran handbook.
“If I follow this schedule, then in three years there’s a good chance they will be exposed to the entire New Testament and Old Testament,” Sliper said. “If I choose to elect my own topic and restrict it to certain books, it’s at the expense to the rest of the word of God.”
Although this agenda isn’t always the easiest to follow, he believes it’s the “higher way” as it exposes people to the entire Bible.
“We’re not a social club,” Sliper said. “We’re here with a mission to welcome people into the kingdom.”
Suffice to say, Sliper has an open door policy. He keeps the parsonage, office and church doors unlocked as much as possible.
“The worst thing is to have a closed door ministry,” Sliper said. “This church and the church of America are being prepared by the Holy Spirit to become like granaries to receive the harvest.”
He invites all those interested in joining this “harvest of souls” on Sunday mornings too. Please note though, butterflies may be lurking behind the pulpit.
“I try to use the nerves in a positive way, so that on Sunday mornings it’s not drudgery,” Sliper said. “Instead, it’s an opportunity to come together and celebrate God’s love, and also to hear God’s word and see God’s people.”
Thus far in his ministry, he’s made his mark at four different churches. He served an 11-year, three-year and one interim part-time term all in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also fulfilled chaplain duties at a service center that cared for 2800 low-income families.
“Dealing with that many families, having a staff of 13, training 200 volunteers, it was a unique position being a manager and chaplain,” Sliper said.
Originally from Fargo, North Dakota, his 17-year ministry in Michigan meant missing out on nephews and nieces growing up. He knew it was time to move a little closer to home.
“Prior to staying a couple of winters in Forest Lake ,” Sliper said. “I served in Southwest Minnesota for three years at my first AFLS congregation.”
He’s a proud graduate of North Dakota State University and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. His list of accomplishments doesn’t end there though. And they aren’t all what one would think.
You see, he didn’t enroll in seminary classes until the age of 32. Prior to that, he worked as an accountant, a staff member at a Para church and in construction.
“I also used to work at the U of M in an administrative position,” Sliper said. “I was dealing with people, principal investigators, scientists, professors, and the graduate students that came from foreign countries. I got to know these people and I began to care for them.”
As more and more time passed, something about that job wasn’t right. The problem was, he couldn’t tell people about Jesus. He could only demonstrate Him.
“I soon thought, ‘seminary it’ll be,’” Sliper said. “‘But, am I capable of seminary at this age in life? Will I be able to study after being out of college for 10 years? Can I read and comprehend still?’”
Bombarded with all these doubts, he managed to find some reassurance. He simply took a step back and analyzed his abilities.
“During that time, I discoursed with these guys on science, and even though we were talking about materials degredation and corrosion research, I could follow them,” Sliper said. “I thought if I can I get this stuff, which is rather detailed scientific information, is theology any more significant?”
In fact, it really wasn’t, so he took the plunge and followed the call of God.
“Wesley said we are given life to glorify God,” Sliper said. “I don’t disagree with that. I might say we are given life as a gift from God to express gratefulness to Him.”
But, if you had asked him to take this leap of faith 10 years prior, the answer would have been a lot different. Back then, he was what you would call a “Lutheran Christian.”
“A Lutheran Christian is a traditionalist that falls back on his family and uncles and grandparents,” Sliper said. “I eventually became a Christian Lutheran in that I believe that Jesus is real and personal. Knowing Him means more than anything else.”
For Sliper, being a Christian Lutheran means more than a tradition, church attendance and history with a denomination. It’s either all or nothing with Christ because He makes all the difference.
“When I was 22, I heard a radio presentation when I was on my way home one night after working at the post office,” Sliper said. “They talked about the four spiritual laws: admitting you’re a sinner, asking Christ to forgive your sins, inviting Him into your life and thanking Him for forgiving you.”
His commute now complete, he thought about giving it a try. He had nothing to lose, so he got down on his knees and prayed.
“Nothing happened,” Sliper said. “There weren’t any Roman candles or fireworks. There weren’t any sparks.”
The next morning however, he looked in the mirror and oddly enough, he was smiling. But, he didn’t expect this new grin to last very long.
“I wasn’t clinically depressed and discouraged,” Sliper said. “I was dealing with change that was happening in my family’s life which was threatening to me.”
At that particular time, both his brother and sister were about to get married and leave. And to make matters worse, an aunt of his was dying of leukemia.
“There was a spirit of death around the house,” Sliper said. “It was also very turbulent in America then. I became convinced that if there was a God, He was silent and not relative.”
Inside he was hungry, with so many questions plaguing his lost soul.
“I never did do drugs or all the social ills,” Sliper said. “I kept asking myself, “What’s my purpose for living? What am I going to do when I get out of college? Business economics, are you kidding? What do I want to do with that?”
The “Boy Scout” in him was bankrupt spiritually. Even so, he still remembers the people in his life always thinking he had it all together.
“Now, looking back on it,” Sliper said. “God was drawing me to Himself, showing me the shallowness of my life and beliefs at that time in college.”
Now sitting behind his new desk in Ellendale, one thing is for sure,
“Jesus came and made a difference,” Sliper said.
