Obituary for Pastor Paul Leroy Swedberg

Paul Leroy Swedberg was born on January 27, 1930 in Battle Lake, Minnesota to Johan & Lydia Swedberg, himself a Lutheran pastor of Swedish decent, the youngest of three.

Paul graduated Magna Cum Laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1952 and Augustana Theological Seminary in 1956. He was ordained in the Augustana Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minnesota. He married Carole Mae Malmin on June 23, 1956.

After ordination, Pastor Paul and his wife, Carole, were called to Seattle, Washington, where he organized House of Prayer Lutheran Church in 1956. After receiving a call to start a new congregation in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. He and Carole joyfully accepted the opportunity to move back to his home state, together with their young family.

In December of 1960, Lutheran Church of the Master was officially organized under the auspices of The Augustana Lutheran Church, encouraged be the late Pastor Roger Carlson of Hope Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis. Pastor Carlson generously told his members living in the Brooklyn Center area at the time to seriously consider joining what Carlson referred to as The New Mission.

Pastor Paul's other ministry involvements included being instrumental in organizing PACT, an agency helping Korean children in need of heart surgery. Paul was chairman of Fellowship of Evangelical Lutheran Laity and Pastors (FELLP) in the 1980's. He was the first president of the Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP) in Minneapolis and the former chairman of Synod Evangelism Committee.

In 1980, he led LCM in funding and building an orphanage in Haiti. Pastor Paul was involved from early on, speaking and committee planning, for International Lutheran Conference on the Hoy Spirit and involving LCM in Lutheran Charismatic Revival movement.

Pastor Paul was senior pastor at Lutheran Church of the Master for 29 years, 20 of the years together with his beloved friends and colleagues, Pastor John Peterson and Pastor Chuck Jacobson, what Paul would later refer to as the "golden years". LCM as a congregation grew from a mission congregation to its 2600 baptized members by 1985.

In 1989, he received a call from Pastor Jim Fresh in Dunedin, Florida. Pastor Fresh asked Paul to take on Senior Pastor responsibilities at Saint Mark Lutheran Church. He pastored Saint Mark for the remainder of his formal ministry.

Paul and his wife, Carole, raised four sons and a daughter. Together they fostered over 29 children.

Pastor Paul "left the room" to be with his Lord and Savior on Sunday, August 22, 2021.

Rest in Peace Pastor Paul.