By Lori EhdeDonn Rakow, who recently retired from 31 years of teaching, is the new United Methodist Church pastor in Luverne"God called me out of teaching, which is something I love, to something I love more," Rakow said Tuesday.He said the ministry isn’t a far cry from the teaching profession. "I teach; I counsel," he said. "It wraps everything I used to do in a secular setting into the world of Christianity."Rakow grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Minneapolis Public Schools, Central. He earned his bachelor’s degree in teaching at Augsburg College and taught four years in Pine City before serving two years in the military during the Vietnam War as a science laboratory technician.He returned to teach four more years in Pine City before earning his Master of Science degree in school counseling at St. Cloud State University in 1977.He then launched a 21-year stint as a science teacher and school counselor in Nicollet, where Rakow said he first heard God’s call to pastoral ministry.He started a course of study at St. Paul Theological Seminary in 2001 with an anticipated graduation in July of 2007.His last day teaching was June 3, 1999, and his first appointment to preach was July 5, 1999."My wife calls it the shortest retirement on record," Rakow said.He and Wanda have been married 34 years and have two children and three grandchildren.His first ministerial assignment was in Sleepy Eye, where he led Faith United Methodist Church as a licensed local pastor for seven years.When asked if it seemed like a big step, Rakow said, "When you trust God, you trust God." He helped officiate a funeral his first day there.His first sermon in Luverne was on June 25 when he baptized a baby (Sean and Kirsten Limesand’s daughter, Larissa). "That was a welcome change," Rakow said.He was in Kansas City for training during the week Chris Ashby died in the car accident, so Rev. Bart Fletcher was called back to officiate that funeral.Rakow was called to the ministry in Luverne when the bishop appointed Fletcher to serve a congregation in Mankato, which happens to be where the Rakows became Methodists.He tells his denominational history this way:His dad was born Catholic, but when his mother died, he was adopted by a Methodist.His dad married an Episcopalian, but they became Lutherans (in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America).So Rakow grew up with ELCA, but Wanda was Evangelical Free, so they became Presbyterians. However, finding no Presbyterian churches in Nicollet, they became Methodists.... in the very church where Fletcher is now serving.Further, he said the man who mentored him and brought him to the ministry is the one who retired, prompting Fletcher’s move and thus his own call to Luverne."I believe God’s hand is in this, so I believe there’s a reason I’m here," Rakow said. "What that is, I don’t know yet."He said he’s pleased so far with his new home in Luverne and with the people."I found them to be warm, friendly, and very hospitable," he said. "A lot of people say ‘hi’ both in and outside the church. … The neighbors are unbelievable. They’re very supportive."