FOR ANTIGO TIMES

On July 16th at 3:00 PM Ascension Evangelical Lutheran Church installed Erik Alair as their new Pastor. In June of last year Pastor Michael Spaude retired from the ministry after serving the membership at Ascension for 40 years. During our vacancy period a team of retired Wisconsin Synod Pastors led the Sunday morning worship service and Bible study at Ascension.

The congregation is very excited to welcome the Alair family to Antigo. The service on the 16^th included a rite of installation and ordination since Mr. Alair is a recent graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequin, WI. We will resume our normal summer schedule on July 23rd. We invite you to join us for worship and a chance to meet Erik Alair and his family. See our Facebook page and website to keep up with summer and fall program events at Ascension.

Pastor Erik Alair was raised in a small town in the Central Valley of California. After graduating from high school in 2007, he moved to Southern California where he met his wife and earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical and theological studies at Biola University. He then went on to complete a master’s degree in theology at Talbot School of Theology in preparation to become an evangelical (Reformed) Christian pastor.

However, during his graduate studies, Erik developed a deeper appreciation for the historic Christian faith and discovered the unique emphasis the Lutheran tradition places on the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. As a result, he decided to pause his pastoral pursuits for a time and eventually relocated with his young family to Wisconsin in order to enroll at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. During his third year of study, he served as the vicar at St. Jacobi Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greenfield, WI. In May

2023, Erik was awarded a master of divinity (M.Div.) degree and assigned to be the

pastor at Ascension Evangelical Lutheran Church in Antigo, WI.

Besides serving others with God’s Word and Sacraments, Pastor Alair can be found spending time with his wife and four children, discussing theology and church history with a friend, cycling around the countryside, reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and enjoying a peaceful, quiet evening outside after a hard day’s work. He looks forward to ministering to the community of Antigo and welcomes all to worship at Ascension on Sunday mornings at 9:00 am.