Pastor Kahle heads to new pastures in Kansas

    Among other things, a pastor is a shepherd. Pastor David Kahle of Zion Lutheran Church of Imperial says his congregation will be finding a new shepherd, as he has been called to a church in Olathe, Kansas.
    Pastor Kahle, 52, made the announcement in church Sunday, where it was received with regret. He has been the church’s pastor for 16 years.
    He and wife Merinda will be leaving Imperial in about a month. “We’re in the freak-out mode” about packing, he laughed Tuesday.
    Pastor Kahle said he was called to Redeemer Lutheran Church, which is smaller than Zion, but has a preschool also.
    How does a call work? “God works through the congregation. It (the congregation) asks for names, calls a seminary, does the matching. The congregation describes itself, says it needs men that match that profile.”
    A church doesn’t get an incompatible pastor that way, he said.
    Pastor Kahle chuckled when he recalled that he and wife Merinda were being called to minister as he was leaving seminary. They requested a smaller town in which to locate, as the pastor was originally from outside of Kearney and felt comfortable in a small town. They didn’t know the church (Imperial) would be smaller than 5,000 people.
    Now, the pulpit in Olathe, a city of 137,000, is vacant. “They heard of me, requested me, and the voter assembly got together and decided.”
    “You don’t know what the Lord’s going to put in front of you,” he stated. “Once I compared the two churches, it was easy to see where the Lord wanted us to be.”
    He then accepted the call to Redeemer Lutheran and “returned” the call to Zion Lutheran.
    Pastor Kahle and his family moved to Imperial when he was installed in June of 2005. He had recently completed study at the Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
    He was drawn to the ministry through life experiences in general. He grew up in and was active in the church, as were his parents.
    Then, “We lost the farm, I joined the army, went to war.”
    The other big influence in his decision to minister was his experience as an emergency room nurse, “Watching people struggle, suffer, die.”
    Pastor Kahle was a cavalry scout in Desert Storm from 1987-91. He then obtained his Registered Nurse degree, then served in that capacity in the army from 1996-2000.
    He has spoken at several Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances over the years.
    Being a preacher in today’s world is hard to do, the Pastor declared. People need heroes, he said, and those are people who are doing things that are hard to do.
    His faith leads him to do God’s will, Pastor Kahle said. “It gives me eternal salvation. It gives my life to God’s service.”
    Pastor Kahle has also given of his time to Imperial. He has served on the Ministerial Association and the senior services boards, the VFW War Memorial Committee, and is a past Rotarian.
    He has given Zion Lutheran Church his love and dedication to the congregation, he said.
    “I pray and they claim that I’ve brought leadership, focus and a love for who we are as Christians and Lutherans.”
    When Pastor and Merinda Kahle move to Kansas there will be a familiar face in the congregation.
    Daughter Tapainga, a Chase County Schools graduate, is a registered dietician at the Olathe Medical Center.
    Active in the church, fellow parishioners knew that her father was a pastor. Tapainga had nothing to do with the church’s call to him, he noted.
    “She just goes to church there, was all she did.” he smiled.
    Pastor Kahle and Merinda love Imperial and are loved also, he said.
That makes it difficult to leave.”