The Farmer’s Chaplain Candidate for Governor A Vision for Minnesota State Farms and Generational Stewardship
Bearing Witness — A Chaplain’s View from the Fields For more than twenty-five years, I have served as a chaplain in the state of Minnesota. My ministry began at Presbyterian Homes in Eden Prairie—at a time when Eden Prairie itself was still surrounded by working farmland. I remember moving into a brand-new townhouse as fields stretched across the horizon. Within a few short years, that land disappeared, replaced by rapid development, commercial corridors, and corporate investment. What was once agricultural community became what many would call a boom town. Fast forward twenty-five years. During 2024 and 2025, I served as a chaplain across southern Minnesota in assisted living facilities, independent senior housing, and nursing homes. What struck me deeply—and repeatedly—was how many of the elders I served were former farmers. Men and women who had worked the land for decades. Families whose farms had been passed down for generations—some for more than a century, and some approachin...