Name
Rev Katherine Gohm
Current Position
Pastor, St. John’s Lutheran, Montreal
Previous Position(s)
Pastor, St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener, Ontario (shared ministry with St. James, Mannheim).
Pastor, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener, Ontario.
Pastor, Redeemer Lutheran Church, London, Ontario.
Congregational Membership
St. John’s Lutheran, Montreal
Date & Year of Ordination
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Education & Earned Degrees (with institutions and years, most recent first)
Part-time MA in Theology: Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy, Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, Ontario, 2022. No degree conferred.
Master of Divinity, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (Martin Luther University College), Waterloo, Ontario. Degree conferred 1999.
Full-time Bachelor of Social Work, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 1993. No degree conferred.
Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Degree conferred 1992.
List up to three (3) current or past synod or churchwide experiences that would inform your service as bishop of this Synod.
Currently serving on Eastern Synod Council (2024) – Legal and Constitutions Committee.
Currently serving as Vice-President North American Region of the Lutheran World Federation and Council Executive member of the Lutheran World Federation.
Served as Director of Public Policy and Service Ministries of the Eastern Synod (2015-2020).
List up to three (3) current or past community activities that would inform your service as bishop of this Synod.
Organized, raised funds, and walked for Indwell That Dam Hill 5K run/walk for supportive housing.
Organized congregation to walk in London’s Pride Parade.
Organized, led and participated in December 6th prayer service to commemorate the Montreal Massacre (as well as attending local prayer vigils) with neighboring women’s shelter Anova.
What gifts would you bring to the office of Bishop of this Synod? (250 word maximum)
I have experience in the local congregational setting which has given me insight into the joys, challenges, and opportunities of ministry as we face them together as a Synod. In each setting I have brought enthusiasm, energy, and a willingness to listen and to learn from the wisdom of those around me. I am curious and open to finding ways of how to be church in our time and our contexts. I have also learned a lot from my involvement with the Lutheran World Federation. The work there has gifted me with a wider vision of the church and its expressions of faith in a diversity of contexts.
Describe your leadership style. (250 word maximum)
My leadership style is collaborative. I believe in bringing people’s gifts and capabilities to the table. Working together widens and supports discipleship and ministry. I work well in a team, having worked in two team ministries in congregations and having served on various committees and working groups in congregations, the Synod, and the wider church. I am organized, skills that were further honed during the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, getting tasks done in a timely manner. I am a listener first, acquiring necessary information to learn and to further reflect on that information. And while I work well in a team and prefer collaboration, I am also able to make decisions which I believe are in the best interest of the organization I am serving, if those decisions fit the organization’s vision and mission.
What do you see as the principal challenge to this Synod in the next six (6) years, and how would you address it? (250 word maximum)
This Synod has done so much faithful work and service as our context, culture, and world change rapidly around us, as we have sought new ways of being church, finding revenue streams, looking at redeveloping our properties, responding to the pandemic and going online with worship and ministry, reaching out to our neighbors in need, becoming those third spaces – places of community and belonging. It is important to see that we have not failed as church as we face the challenge of declining membership, of declining human and financial resources. This is a season of the church and the church has weathered many seasons. In that, it is important to view one another across this geographically large and culturally varied Synod as resources to one another; resources of support, learning, and encouragement. Continued relationship-building is vital, with on-going opportunities to come together either online or in-person for lay people and rostered ministers for mutual support, learning and encouragement. This is something we saw increase during the pandemic and it would be good to enhance that relationship-building, learning and resource-sharing in our Synod, especially across intergenerational lines. In that challenge of declining human and financial resources, the participation from a rich diversity of people and gifts is crucial to who we are as a Synod, to the ways we structure ourselves for that participation, and to how we function together in that diversity as a healthy and inclusive Synod.
What would be your top three (3) priorities for your first three (3) years of service? (250 word maximum)
To continue the work of building connection and relationships across this Synod’s congregations, lay leaders, and rostered ministers.
To continue the work of building up resources and capacities for a bold and courageous witness to the challenges that face our world and how we can speak into those challenges with faith. This would include opportunities and support for theological education and praxis for lay leaders and rostered ministers.
To continue to help and support congregations in this Synod to search out creative and diverse ways of being the church.