- Currently Works in the Office of the Bishop, Northern California-Nevada Synod
- Preparing PhD Dissertation on Theology of Martin Luther
- Choral Singer with Undergraduate Degree in Music Education
- Preached in our Christmas – 4th Advents Services in Los Altos and SF with over 150 in attendance.
Even the Parking lot was full at the Los Altos Lutheran Church on the last Saturday afternoon before Christmas, He had preached here many times some five years ago when he was an intern.
The service this year was held in collaboration with Swedish School in Silicon Valley, which provided the beautiful Lucia Procession, Zaida Singer was enlarged with a fabulous pianist who has toured in US with the band of Zaida’s son. The children were entertained by working on creative artworks supervised by our own artist Frida W Gson.
Last time I listened to Brandon was on a Zoom meeting where he lectured with clarity and passion about Martin Luther’s Lilla Katekes which was well received by the study group. I had become curious learning more about the background of this talented young theologian and his plans for the future, I gave him some basic questions. Here are his answers.
Where were you born? Tell us about your family and what led you to study theology?
I was born in Arizona and grew up in Minnesota, where my mother and younger sibling still live. Much of my extended family still lives in the Midwest, particularly the Swedish side of the family. My great-great grandfather, Monte Afzelius was from Gavle and immigrated to North America to play ice hockey. His family eventually settled in Iowa. Interestingly, it was my non-Swedish side of the family that raised me in the Lutheran church
My maternal grandmother, who was English and German, brought my sibling and me to confirmation and church choir practice every Wednesday night for many years. It was through singing in church choir and participating in confirmation that I began to ask theological questions.
After studying music at Luther College in Iowa, the theological questions grew too big to ignore. I entered candidacy with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ELCA and moved to California to begin my seminary studies, and nine years later I'm still living here.
Tell us more about your studies in Theology in Berkeley and your internships in the Bay Area.
I started my time with the Church of Sweden as an intern in 2017 studying first with Louise Linder and then with Mariann Nygren Shae. Both priests along with Kristin Hamrén and Kristoffer Diös were instrumental in my formation.
I left the Swedish church for a year to complete my ELCA internship before returning for my ordination in September 2020. The ordination service was unique in many ways. Both the ELCA and the Church of Sweden were present, and it took a lot of effort to logistically work out the details or such an arrangement to allow me to be ordained with the American Lutheran Church and serve in the Church of Sweden. I am extremely grateful to the former bishop, the Rev. Mark Holmerud and the former assistant to the bishop, the Rev. Katy Grindberg for helping to make such a relationship possible.
During that time, another mentor of mine, Hans Bratt Hernberg, who was the vicar of Church of Sweden min L. A. and SF, welcomed me as a colleague. I also could not have managed that year without the continual support and encouragement of Babro Osher. In addition to being such a unique circumstance, the service happened in the middle of a pandemic, and we could only have 10 people or so present in the room. It was a very intimate service with most people attending online. I also remember it fondly as it was the first time I had received the eucharist in over six months.
Tell us about Your Husband David Westergard.
My husband, David is a great support for me and the work of the church. Originally from southern California, his maternal side of the family is from the Azore Islands in Portugal and the paternal side carries the Danish surname Westengard. He is a director with the Pacific Maritime Association and has dedicated his work to ensuring people have access to their health and welfare benefits. He recently graduated with a master’s degree in public health.
What have you been working on after ordination as priest? How did you get the idea to write a doctoral thesis on Martin Luther’s theology?
Since my ordination, I served for almost a year as a priest with the church in San Francisco. During that time, I started to discern returning to school for a PhD in the history of Christianity. My undergraduate degree is in music education and the classroom has always been a comfortable place for me. Knowing that doctoral studies would not allow me to give my full attention to a congregation, I stepped away from parish ministry.
I spent a year preparing my doctoral application and gaining more classroom experience by teaching English with EF Education First. I began my doctoral studies in the fall of 2022 at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, studying under the guidance of Kirsi Stjerna, a Finnish scholar of Reformation history and theology. I am studying the history of Christian thought and the spread of theological ideas.
I recently taught a course on Martin Luther and his anti-Jewish writings, studying the consequences of his publications from the perspectives of both intellectual and cultural history. I plan to begin writing my dissertation in the summer of 2025, with a focus on Luther's theology of free will.
Alongside my studies, I spent two years as the Administrative Coordinator at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and am currently the Administrative Director for the Sierra Pacific Synod (diocese), where I direct the administrative and operational functions for the office of the bishop.
You certainly seem to have your hands full and to be on a very productive path with a topic you have great passion for. On behalf of Church of Sweden in SF I would like to thank you for all your hard work during the holidays and we wish the best for the New Year!