Lee Woolery

CAPNM Chair / Spiritual Director

I was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. The pastor of the church my family attended in Omaha, Lloyd Behnken, became a role model for me. Because of his influence and God’s call, I ended up preparing to be a pastor, doing my seminary studies in St. Louis, Missouri and Dubuque, Iowa and

was ordained on January 19, 1975. I have had the great joy of sharing in ministry, in a variety of ways, with three-point rural congregations, city churches having multiple staff, a congregation just getting started, and as a Chaplain at a Lutheran high school. These ministries have been in North Dakota, Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1996, I was introduced to the ministry of parish nursing. At that time, I was co-pastor at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Sherwood Park, Alberta. We called a parish nurse, Wynn Weist, who helped us understand the importance of having the presence of a health and healing ministry. Following her sudden death, we called Joanne Kinoshita. I then moved to Saskatoon to serve a congregation there. I was also invited to be a part of a working group looking to establish a parish nursing ministry in the city. Over the years, I have been involved with ICHM (InterChurch Health Ministries), ICHM-SK and CAPNM.

I retired from full-time ministry in 2018 and am grateful to again be connected with parish nursing ministry. It has been, and continues to be, for me, a vibrant and vital part of God’s calling to care for the health and well being of the whole person, body, mind and spirit.

I have four daughters, four sons-in-law, and ten grandchildren. My wife of 47 years, Gretch, died suddenly in 2017. Since 2020, Brigitte Tamm, has been my soulmate.