Pastors Phillip and Ginny Olson say their ‘CHOME’ (Church-Home) is not only comfortable, it’s everything they could want in a retirement home. The pair recently moved from the St. Peter Lutheran parsonage in Eldorado, to the former First Lutheran Church building that sits along Juniper Road, just inside the Fayette County boundary south of Ossian. (Janell Bradley photos.)
Pastors Ginny and Phillip Olson have a new "Chome"
Janell Bradley
Guest Correspondent
For Pastors Ginny and Philip Olson, the former First Lutheran Church in rural Ossian is not only a place to call home, but a place they can finally call their own.
As pastors, the Olsons, most recently of Eldorado, were accustomed to living in parsonages owned by the churches they served. That also meant pulling up roots, on occasion.
“It’s the American dream to own a house,” laughs Ginny, “and now we know that sense of ownership.”
Having met one another as students at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, the pastors have spent a near lifetime ministering to others. Their work began as missionaries in Senegal, West Africa, where they stayed until returning to the United States with their first two children, Ana and Martha, about 1978. Three more children, Maryn, Andrew and Amy, would later complete the family. Today, there are also seven grandchildren – all of whom are the biggest fans of their grandparents’ unique retirement home.
Until recently when he took retirement, Phillip Olson was pastor at West Clermont Lutheran Church. Ginny continues to serve as pastor for the St. Peter Lutheran Church in Eldorado – the church that members of the former First Lutheran parish voted to join when they dissolved due to dwindling numbers a few years ago.
As the Olsons began pondering how a church building could become their home, Phillip says he had some very specific ideas. Working with his children and their spouses there was a lot of sweat equity poured into this labor of love. During the de-struct phase, members of the Luther College wrestling squad assisted the Olsons. Work included removal of the stairs to the balcony, taking down the chimney and hauling out everything that had been in the basement.
