HIBBING — As a teen in northern Iowa, Sarah Fike was often approached by people who saw a spark in her and wanted to fast track her as youth director of her hometown church.

While she was active in the Lutheran community and regularly volunteered and attended church events, she couldn’t envision herself as a director.

“I never thought of myself as leading a church, but I started recognizing that I was always being lifted up as a leader,” Fike recalled.

Eventually she would become reverend of First Lutheran Church in Hibbing — but she’d have to find her own way there.

Fike worked at a summer camp for children with disabilities in high school and loved every minute of it. The kids brought her so much joy that she began considering careers that would allow her to serve that population.

In college, she went on to work at a group home, assisting adults with disabilities and volunteering at a hospice.

“I’ve always been drawn that type of work,” Fike explained. “Being with people while they’re dying, being with their family — there are a lot of very holy moments that happen during those times. It’s a very big honor to be part of that part of someone’s life.”

Hoping to combine her love of people with her other love — music — she temporarily enrolled as a music therapy major before discovering social work to be a better fit.

Just as Fike thought she had everything figured out, a casual conversation once again altered her entire career path.

“I went on a service trip and one of the campus pastors working at a Lutheran camp was talking with me about life and volunteering,” she recalled. “And he said, ‘maybe you should take a class on youth and family ministry.’”

The idea immediately took root. Fike soon added a religion major to her studies.

Unlike her experience with music therapy, studying theology didn’t feel like work. All those extra hours she invested into reading, studying and writing was a labor of love.

Following graduation, she became the director of children, youth and family ministry at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. It was then she heard the call of ministry louder than ever.

“During that time I realized that I love what I do. I love the kids. I love families,” she said. “But this is not all that I’m called to do.”

Fike returned to school one more time to earn a master’s of divinity degree from Luther Seminary. And today, Reverend Fike is excited to call First Lutheran Church her new home away from home.

Since her arrival in July, she’s felt welcomed and pleasantly surprised by the ease with which she’s settled in.

“It felt natural, as if I’d been leading this congregation for a long time,” she said in describing her first sermons. “It’s good to have that feeling of ‘this is my congregation and I’m their pastor.’ It’s a good fit.”

As for her leadership style, Fike intends to focus on teamwork. She believes an integral part of being a responsible leader is building solid relationships with the people she serves.

It’s how she folds her earlier passions into her current work.

“That’s something I’m very passionate about — visiting people in the hospital and nursing homes and meeting with people to get to know their stories so I can better lead them and serve them as a pastor,” she said.

Part of that entails finding out where other people’s gifts and skills lie and helping to develop those. In other words, elevating others the way her hometown church leaders hoped to elevate her.