Induction Services for Pastor Mike Naylor

(The following article was submitted to The Pioneer)

The Debs-Puposky Parish will officially induct Pastor Michael Naylor as its pastor on Sunday, June 22^nd, 2014.  Our Redeemer’s Lutheran in Puposky will hold a service at 9am and Trinity Lutheran in Debs will hold its service at 10:30am.  Pastor Stephen Peterson, Assistant to the Bishop of the Northwest Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), will speak during both services.  The community is invited to attend these services to formally welcome Pastor Naylor to the Parish.    

Pastor Naylor accepted the call to minister in the Debs-Puposky Parish in December 2013 and he began leading services in January 2014.  He succeeds Pastor Jay Borchert, of Debs, who retired in December.  Pastor Naylor is from Bemidji and he and his wife, Mary, raised their family here.  He started lay pulpit supply in 1986.  The first parish he served was the Pinewood-Puposky-Debs Parish.  Since then he has provided pulpit supply for churches in Kelliher, Waskish, Shevlin, Solway, Bemidji, Mizpa, Grand Rapids, Gully and Trail.  Prior to accepting the call at Debs-Puposky, Pastor Naylor was leading up to 50 Sunday services throughout northern Minnesota each year. 

Pastor Naylor has a long history of musical performance and ministry.  In 2012 he became one of the original inductees to the North Dakota Rock Country Hall of Fame.  He also has served on three Synod Music Teams in the LCA as well as the ELCA Constituting Convention.  During his first six months of service, Pastor Naylor has enthusiastically dedicated many hours each week to one of the Deb-Puposky Parish’s top priorities: visiting Parish members in local nursing homes that can no longer attend regular worship services in their home churches.