An Introduction to Pastor Neal Buckaloo

I have looked forward to this time at Trinity as the interim pastor. I will write a bit about my background. I was born and raised in the Midwest and grew up on a farm in Northern Illinois. I attended St. Paul Lutheran Church in Dixon, a rural one-room grade school, and Dixon High School. Active in Luther League, I continued while at Carthage College, an ELCA college, as an officer of the Illinois Synod Luther League. Seminary was at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Tina and I were married during this time, and we traveled west to Olympia, Washington, and Gloria Dei for my year of internship. Following graduation from seminary, we returned to Olympia were I served as Assistant Pastor for three years.

My next call was to Good Shepherd in the Spokane Valley. I thought I would be there three years and move on. I was pastor there 14 years! We remained in the Spokane Valley while I served as Assistant to the Bishop for the Pacific Northwest Synod, LCA, and sic years of interim pastoral assignments that followed. In 1994, I joined the Region 1 Staff as director for multicultural ministry and worked with candidacy committees in the six synods of the region. In 2003, I continued working with candidates for the region and also served half time as interim pastor at Good Shepherd, Spokane Valley. In my 40th year in ordained ministry, I retired in 2006.

Tina and I have three children and four grandchildren. Leslie lives in Spokane and is mother to two boys, Jordan, a freshman, and Zachary, in third grade. Currently, Zachary is living with Grammy and me. Troy is in San Diego and a partner in All Masonry, a design and stonework construction firm. Derek is married to Kara Hermstad, and they live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Derek teaches American History at Coe College , and Kara works for Nordstrom's at their national call center. Kai is a fifth grader and Anneli is in first grade. Kara and Derek are expecting the birth of Matthew in April.