MEET OUR VACANCY PASTOR
Reverend Carl Bassett with his wife Lisa
Pastor Carl Bassett was born on April 7, 1947, in Reading, Massachusetts. He spent his growing up years in the Orlando, Florida area. He was married to his High School sweetheart, Lisa Kendrick, on October 9, 1970. The Lord has blessed them with three daughters and two grandchildren. He has degrees from the University of South Florida, conferred in 1974 (B.S. Medical Technology, B.A. Chemistry, B.A. Religious Studies) and a graduate degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, conferred in 1987 (Masters of Divinity and Certificate of Ordination)
Pastor Bassett has been an ordained Pastor in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod since 1987 and served parishes in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan for over thirty-five years, most recently serving as Senior Pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Niles, Michigan, from 2002 through 2015. He retired on January 1, 2016, but has remained very active in pastoral ministry, serving many congregations as Vacancy and Supply Pastor, as well as being trained Synodical trained as an Intentional Interim Pastor in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. As an Interim Vacancy Pastor, he served Salem Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids (Kentwood), Michigan, as Visiting Senior Pastor while their pastor was on disability leave from March 1 through May 30, 2020. He has served as Intentional Interim Pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Bridgman, Michigan, from August 1st 2017 to July 31st, 2018, and St. Paul Lutheran Church, South Bend, Indiana from August 15, 2018 until September 30, 2019, and Redeemer Lutheran, Jackson, MI from June 1, 2020 to September 15, 2021. He returned August 1, 2022, to Immanuel Lutheran Church, in Bridgman, Michigan, to serve as Interim Vacancy Pastor.
Prior to Ordination, he served as a Staff Medical Bacteriologist and Clinical Medical Technologist at Tampa General Hospital and the VA Hospital, Tampa, Florida (1974-1978) and Director of Clinical and Anatomical Pathology Laboratories at Medical Center Hospital, Largo Florida (1978-1983) He proudly served in the United States Navy from 1967-1971 (including two twelve month combat tours in Vietnam, trained in Air Strike Planning/Special Operations/Naval Intelligence). In addition, he served as Contract Chaplain for the Veterans Administration in Chicago, Illinois from 1998 to 2013.
Pastor Bassett has been in Law Enforcement/Fire Service Chaplaincy for over 30 years, having served in the Wood Dale, Illinois, Police and Fire Departments (1990-2002), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 1993. He was accepted into the Chaplain's Corp of the Michigan State Police and commissioned as Captain, in May, 2016. He is an active member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains, has basic and advanced certification in Crisis Management from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, and the FBI, and has actively served as Senior Special Agent Chaplain on the Bureau's Crisis Response teams since 1996. He was privileged to serve and assist the first responders at Ground Zero at the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon shortly after September 11, 2001, (September 14 through the 28th) and has been regularly called to respond and serve at many other traumatic events on local, state, national, and international levels.
Pastor and has wife have made their "retirement home" in Niles, MI.
Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior!
Our Mission is to bring others to Christ!
We know with our Triune God all things are possible!
We stand on the Biblical Truth of the Holy Bible!
We are a church family of action and doers!
We are the church and not just a building!
We stand with God's one true church of Believers!
We stand up for the Sanctity of Human Life!
We love our Country and stand with those that protect it!