The Covenant Award, bestowed annually to an individual who has made distinctive contributions which have strengthened the partnership between Gustavus Adolphus College and member congregations of the College’s Association of Congregations, was presented to the Rev. Gary F. Anderson on Saturday, April 25.
Anderson, a 1963 alumnus of the College, has been a member of the Gustavus Board of Trustees since 2000, and is also a member of the Commission Gustavus 150 task force on faith. Anderson chaired the Presidential Search Committee in the selection of James Peterson as College President in 2003-04. He was also Secretary of the Board in 2004 and a member of the Executive Committee.
Anderson served as senior pastor of All Saints Lutheran in Minnetonka, Minn., from 1982 to 1993 and then Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview, Minn., from 1993-2004. While a full-time pastor, he encouraged his congregations and others to deepen their relationship with Gustavus, both through Gusties Gather events and through other opportunities to serve the College, such as the Association of Congregations.
Born in Morris, Minn., Anderson received his bachelor’s degree from Gustavus in 1963 and his M.Div. from Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago (formerly Augustana Seminary, Rock Island) in 1968. After serving churches in Fort Worth and Houston, Texas, he joined the staff of the LCA’s Division for Professional Leadership in Philadelphia, before moving back to Minnesota in 1982. Following his retirement in 2004, he became interim seminary pastor at Luther Seminary for two years, then worked part-time for the Saint Paul Area Synod ELCA as director of “Crossing Bridges,” a three-year, $2 million mission appeal now in its final year. Recently, Anderson completed a six week interim pastorate at the English-speaking international congregation in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Gary and his wife Mary Ann (Carlson) are members of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview, Minn. They have two children, Brian and Susan, and five grandchildren.
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