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When Matt Hansen ’24 decided to leave marketing for ministry he couldn’t have anticipated he’d end up overseeing social media operations at the 13th Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Assembly. 

“The Assembly was incredibly meaningful because each day I was meeting new people from all over the world who share an identity as Lutheran Christians. You can learn a great deal from people who come from different contexts but share the same traditions,” Hansen observed.

Hansen was new to the LWF but eager to get involved when he learned preparations for the Assembly were underway. “Last spring the LWF published a call for communicators, and I applied because my prior occupation was in digital communications. Then I was named social media lead, and it was very meaningful to be able to intertwine my previous occupation with my call to ministry.”

Hansen will finish his Master of Divinity in May 2024 and is working toward ordination as a minster of word and sacrament in the North Carolina Synod of the ELCA. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with majors in political science and sociology. He started his career in marketing as a student blogger for the office of admission.

“My sister died before I started my second year of college, which affected my focus. When I graduated in 2013, I felt aimless, but I had solid marketing experience, so I got an internship and spent the next eight years in marketing and advertising positions,” said Hansen.

As Hansen processed his grief, he found he wanted more meaningful work. He came back to his hometown of Andrews, North Carolina, and met with the pastor at his home church, St. Andrew Lutheran Church. After a year of discernment, he enrolled at LTSS, so he could remain near his family.

“I always felt insecure because I didn’t think my marketing background fit the ideal of a pastor,” Hansen shared. “Through work with churches in the North Carolina Synod to the LWF, I now feel excited about how my marketing background can be intertwined with my vocation of ministry in the years to come.”