Trinity's Staff
Our Pastor
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I was born 64 years ago on the west coast…of Wisconsin that is; La Crosse, along the Mississippi River. At an early age I became fascinated with everything there was to do with the weather, and by 2nd grade knew that I would pursue a career in weather forecasting. I studied meteorology at the University of Wisconsin, earning Bachelors and Masters Degrees, and then embarked on a 27 year career of TV weathercasting that took me and my family (wife Kay and daughter Beth) from Madison, WI to Sacramento, CA, Atlanta, GA, Jacksonville, FL and finally Spokane, WA. I had been baptized as an infant into Christ, as a Lutheran, and the Church has always been a major part of my life. In the final 10 years of my TV career I began to believe that I was being called to serve the Lord as a pastor. According to the Lord’s good will and perfect timing that happened about 13 years ago as I entered into the seminary (Fort Wayne) and served St. John Lutheran Church of Spokane, WA until retiring from active ministry as of December 1st of 2017. (Note: “Retirement is NOT a Biblical concept. Moses worked up until the day he died at 120 years old, and Christ worked up until and including the day He died. Three days later He got back up and went back to work again!) We immediately relocated to Venice, FL in order to escape the ice, snow and gloom of winter, and to be closer to our daughter who is now a high school mathematics teacher in Fort Lauderdale, FL. In September of 2018 I received the call to be the Pastor here at Trinity Lutheran Church of SW Florida, and accepted. I was installed Sunday October 21st and joyfully serve this wonderful and committed flock of God's people.
I currently also serve as a volunteer cooperative precipitation reporter for the Tampa Bay National Weather Service Office, and a trained Severe Weather Spotter. I am also an avid, although not accomplished, tennis player. That, and college football (Wisconsin Badgers) are my main sports interest. I love to sing, both solo and in groups, and given my size, cooking and eating can be considered a strength.
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Pastor Brian can be reached at:
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Dr. John A. Behnke is the Organist at Trinity Lutheran Church of SWFL in Port Charlotte, FL. He enjoys composing and arranging having over 500 compositions in print with nineteen different publishers in the United States, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He is Emeritus Professor of Music at Concordia University, in Mequon, Wisconsin where for 29 years (1986-2015) he taught organ, church music courses, and directed The Alleluia Ringers, Concordia’s touring handbell choir. He was the director of the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble and Music Editor of AGEHR Publishing – Handbell Musicians of America from 2003 until 2019. He was recently awarded an Honorary Life Member of the Handbell Musicians of America. And he serves as a Board Member of the AGO Sarasota/Manatee Chapter.
More information can be found at www.johnbehnke.com.
Our Organist
