Pastor Jim and Anita Vadis
Patty Elliott
Resurrection Church at SaddleBrooke is pleased to announce its fall Bible study, “Temple and Torah” taught by Pastor Jim Vadis. This study we will focus on the significance of Jerusalem to Jewish, Muslim and Christian people. Each group has its own claim.
Pastor Vadis has led ten visits to Israel. Those who have participated in his Bible studies consider him a master teacher with a wealth of historical and Biblical knowledge. Most impressively, he teaches without notes! He speaks from his heart as a dedicated servant of God.
The “Temple and Torah” Bible study runs from Tuesday, October 16 through November 16 in meeting Room 1 at The Preserve Clubhouse from 9:30–11:00 a.m. Space is limited. Sign-up sheets are available at a Resurrection at SaddleBrooke service or by calling Karen Hustad, 664-7001. All are welcome as Pastor Jim leads this study including both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques.
Vadis grew up in rural Minnesota where farming was the primary occupation. He recalls those years as a time when people spoke of getting the harvest in and they did so with dignity and the help of their neighbors. His grandfather was both a farmer and a sometimes preacher. “Today the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” says Vadis “so the work of the church these days is to be laborers and neighbors.”
With an undergraduate degree from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Vadis attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and was ordained in 1968.
Vadis’ career began in the prairies of North Dakota in Fortuna, about 100 miles from his grandfather’s homestead where he served three small churches and was an auxiliary chaplain for the Army Post.
Three years later he was called to First Lutheran Church in Bemidji, Minnesota where Jim and his wife, Anita, spent 30 years and raised their four children. Two sons and a daughter-in-law became Lutheran Ministers. Their two daughters became teachers and Anita became a school counselor.
Leaving his snow shovel behind, Pastor Jim and Anita moved to Arizona in 2001 accepting a call to serve at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oro Valley. There he was a strong preaching pastor with great Bible study skills until he retired on the 40th anniversary of his ordination in 2008.
In 2014 he joined the “retired preachers’ team” at the new non-denominational Resurrection Church at SaddleBrooke along with Wayne Viereck, Roger Pierce, Palmer Ruschke and Roy Guinn. Ruschke and Guinn have since retired again. With support from Senior Pastor Al Jensen and the Oro Valley campus, Resurrection at SaddleBrooke is now known for its solid Biblical preaching, a positive and affirming Christian family atmosphere.
Resurrection Church at SaddleBrooke meets at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. in the Vermilion Room at SaddleBrooke One from October through May. During summer months, one service is held. All are welcome to worship with us.