Rev. Gerard Bolling was born and raised in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. From an early age, he always desired to serve God’s people in a greater capacity. One visit to Concordia Seminary and he was “sold out” on serving Jesus! Gerard attended Concordia Chicago from 2008-2012, earning a BA in Theatre with a minor in Languages. Gerard graduated from Concordia Seminary in 2016 with a Master of Divinity (MDiv) and received a call to serve at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the inner city of St. Louis. He had been leading the Deaf Ministry at Bethlehem two years prior to receiving the call. He currently serves as pastor and co-executive director of the Lutheran Hope Center. In this role, he leads the Deaf Ministry team at Bethlehem while reaching out to youth and families in the Ferguson, MO, area in the aftermath of the Mike Brown incident. He also co-leads the dynamic weekly Bethlehem Church ministries (preaching, teaching, and leading outreach programs and community engagement) with the amazingly talented Pastor John R. Schmidtke. Our ministry is an innovation to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a blessing to those whom we serve, who are often overlooked because of socioeconomic situations. Gerard is also an educator. He currently serves as an Online Adjunct Leadership Professor at Concordia University Texas, and an Online Adjunct Theology Professor at Concordia University Texas and Concordia University, St. Paul, and an Online Adjunct Professor in the Nonprofit/Business department at Concordia University Wisconsin. He has spoken at numerous conferences, events, and venues within the LCMS, reflecting the love of Christ and promoting deeper conversations about deaf, urban, and cross-cultural inclusive ministry. In addition to serving as a full-time pastor and part-time professor, he is also a doctoral candidate in his research stage at Concordia University Wisconsin in the Leadership, Innovation, and Continuous Improvement (LICI) program. His research topic is Human Resource Development in Urban Ministry Structures of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as it Relates to Mentorship. He is set to complete his research by September 2020 and become “Dr. Bolling” officially. Gerard has been married to his beautiful wife, Lorenda, for six years. Lorenda serves as a preschool teacher at Word of Life Lutheran School. Together they have a three-year-old son named Lincoln, and a one-year-old daughter named Monroe. Both kids were born on October 5 (in different years, of course). They currently reside in on the south side of St. Louis, MO.
Gerard Bolling
June 29, 2020
In my office, I have a kneeler that I got off of Craigslist from a Lutheran church that had closed many years ago. It was the first piece of furniture I dropped down into my empty, stuffy, non-air-conditioned office that I was presented with at the beginning of my vicarage at Bethlehem Lutheran Church—a church I now serve as pastor. I lovingly refer to this office as my “penthouse suite.” See, the 171-year-old urban school building that Bethlehem now worships in was built to have five different levels. Thirty steps for each landing. Of course, where was my office?
The very top.
The Penthouse.
