Dustin Madden fills need at St. Paul, Susanville.

Dustin Madden and his wife Nicole came into the Lutheran Church in Susanville about 10 years ago.  They both had a background in catholicism.  Nicole grew up in Westwood, California, a small town between Chester and Susanville.  Dustin has a position as a nutritionist for one of the prisons in Susanville.  For many years, St. Paul’s in Susanville has been vacant and served by faithful retired pastors mostly from the Reno area and our Nevada Circuit.  Other Northern California mountain congregations include  Greenville, California (burned and now closed); Chester, California, (inactive), and Portola, California.  Dustin was encouraged to pursue the SMP route because of his strong ties to Susanville and to the congregation.  Over several years Dustin took a series of Mission Training Center courses to better assist the work of the retired pastors visiting his congregation.  He learned to teach Bible Classes, worked at visitation and outreach in the community.  He was encouraged and given oversight by Rev. Andrew Simpson from Sparks, Nevada and Rev. Jed Maschke from Carson City, Nevada.  In September of 2025, Dustin attended the initial orientation for SMP students together with Pastor James Cleland from Shepherd of the Sierras, Carson City, Neada  We thank God that he provided a man who visited the church almost 10 years ago and was over time raised up for faithful ministry.  Pray for him as he studies, learns, and grows as a servant of Christ being formed in and for the pastoral ministry.