I have called you by name; you are Mine.
(Isaiah 43:1b)
Reverend Walter A. Pohland was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 19, 1957, the second child of Paul and Betty Pohland. He was born again as a child of God through the sacrament of Holy Baptism on January 5, 1958, at Ascension Lutheran Church in St. Louis. About this second birth, God’s Word is sure: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16)
Walt publicly confessed his baptismal faith in the rite of Confirmation on May 30, 1971, at Christ Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Bible verse inscribed on his confirmation speaks a promise from God, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22) Newly confirmed, he received the sacrament of Holy Communion in the certainty of another divine promise, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54)
In 1984 Walt enrolled at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, and graduated in 1988. On June 26th of that year he was ordained into the office of the public ministry, and a month later, on July 31, 1988, he was installed as pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Raymondville, Texas. His ordination banner was emblazoned with the text: “Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
On Christmas Eve, 1988, Walt met Becky Jo Hildebrandt, daughter of Richard and Virginia Hildebrandt. A year later she accepted his proposal, and on May 26, 1990 they were joined together in Christian marriage. God blessed their union with a daughter, Emily Lynette, on May 4, 1992, and with a son-in-law, Jon Fraker, on June 15, 2014.
In July, 2006, Walt was installed as Associate Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Georgetown, Texas, and a little over five years later, on October 23, 2011, was installed as the congregation’s Senior Pastor.