Hello!

My name is Eric Black and my story begins in Germany; I was born in Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt, on March 8, 1985.

My father was in the Air Force and thus we bounced around quite often.  From Germany to North Texas, Germany again, California and finally San Antonio, TX.  I graduated from Lutheran High School of San Antonio in 2003.  From there I did my undergraduate work at Texas Lutheran University, majoring in Theology and Philosophy.

In 2009 I began my pastoral training at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  The year before my vicarage, I took the opportunity to study abroad in Cambridge at Westfield House, the seminary for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England.  While there, I met my future wife, Allison, who was also studying abroad as part of her undergraduate degree from Concordia University Chicago (formerly River Forest).  Allison’s family is from Michigan, and her parents currently live in Rockford.

My Vicarage assignment was to Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Moines, IA.  I was the Vicar there over the 2012-2013 school year.  Along with my regular duties, I was primarily responsible for leading campus ministry at Drake University and assisting with Operation Barnabas, which includes outreach and support to military families.

In May of 2013, Allison graduated from Concordia University Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in both biology and theology.  We were married after I completed my vicarage at the end of that summer on August 17th, 2013.  Three days later we moved to St. Louis, and a week after that Allison began the Accelerated Generalist Masters of Science in Nursing program at St. Louis University (SLU).  I resumed my final year of studies for the Masters of Divinity at the seminary.  I finished the MDiv in 2014, and the following year began course work for the Masters of Sacred Theology.  Allison graduated from SLU in May 2015, and she passed her licensing exam to be an RN this July.

I am very excited to begin my ministry at St. Paul, and we are both looking forward to being a part of this congregation and community.  Thank you for your kind welcome and hospitality!

God’s Blessings,

Pastor Eric and Allison Black