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Rev. Dr. Michael Brecke Bio




The Rev. Dr. Michael Brecke has accepted our invitation to serve as Plymouth’s Interim Pastor of Care and Welcome for the next six months.


Michael Brecke was born in Ashland, Wisconsin, in 1946. He grew up in Mellen, Wisconsin, and graduated from high school in 1964. Received his B.S. degree from Wisconsin State University River Falls (1968), Master’s of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School (1971), a Master’s of Sacred Theology from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (1972), and a Doctor of Ministry from Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago (1993).


Michael’s parallel education was received from the Penokee Veneer Mill, Allis Chalmers Foundry, Mellen Weekly Record, Mellen Country Club (where he dug ditches), and numerous other jobs to make enough money to support his habit of education.


He entered ordained ministry in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in 1973. Became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1989.


Michael lost his wife, Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Titterington in 2018. He has two children, Matthew and Anna. He married Brenda Albf on July 6, 2024.


Over the years Michael has written for several publications including community newspapers in Albany, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas; and Door County, Wisconsin. He is a frequent contributor to The Echo, a publication effort in conjunction with Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. The Echo is devoted to telling the stories of our past.


He has served as transitional pastor in the Central States Synod, ELCA. He also started a homeless ministry called The Listening Post in 2016. Currently he still does some of his homeless ministry in the River Market Area of Kansas City, Missouri. He is also involved in Write On Door County and annually teaches a class on writing.

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