Pastor Steven Flo speaks eloquently with a melodic voice that reminds me of the scent of geraniums, in the sense that a conversation with him uplifts and calms at once.  While his fast spoken words inspire and captivate, his tone and demeanor impart a sense of peace.  The thoughts he expresses linger long after the conversation ends.  The Ladies of Grace Lutheran Church recently surprised Flo with a celebration for 20 years of service at the De Soto parish.  It’s hard to believe this man struggles with, and every week overcomes, a fear of public speaking.

      “When I went to college, Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, I tried to talk to my professor about getting out of public speaking.”  Flo says “I said I’d do research papers. I would do five research papers if I could just get out of one speech.” 

      Flo’s professor didn’t let him off the hook.  For his first speech on the topic of masks he wore a mask and earned a perfect score. 

      “They loved it,” Flo says.  “I never liked public speaking, but as time went on, I got more and more interested in the scriptures and the fact that we’re saved by grace alone.”

      Still, Flo tried to avoid a vocation that involved public speaking.  He graduated from Concordia College in 1978 with a double major in Biology and Psychology and a minor in Religion.  In 1980 he earned another Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies from the Lutheran Bible Institute in Issaquah, Washington, where he stayed on to work as an admissions counselor.  After five years, he left to attend Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  He came to De Soto straight from the seminary where he graduated in 1990.  Flo has been the sole pastor at Grace Lutheran ever since.  He finds the parish appropriately named since grace inspired him to follow his path and face his fear.

      “We are saved by grace and not by our own works,” Flo says.  “That wonderful message that salvation is a free gift was just wonderful and overwhelming and made me want to talk about that and read about that and study about that, and then you couldn’t get me to shut up about it.”

      He specifies that his parish belongs to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which he says distinguishes itself from the larger Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in its belief that the Bible is the word of God, rather than simply containing the word of God. 

     “If it contains God’s word, you have to ask, what part of it is God’s word and what part isn’t?” Flo challenges.  “And then you have to look to their theologians to figure that out and nobody can agree, so the authority of the Bible gets undermined.”

     Flo says that in effect, this difference has led the Missouri Synod to stick to a more conservative interpretation, one that follows the belief that the Bible’s instructions are meant for all time, rather than being specific to a culture in existence 2,000 years ago.  He cites abortion and gay marriage as key issues where the largest two Lutheran organizations disagree. 

     Grace Lutheran breaks from established customs in other ways though, ways, Flo says, that aren’t biblically commanded.  The parish recently switched its schedule around to accommodate some of its members.  Now Sunday Bible Class and Sunday School start at 9:00 am, preceding instead of following 10:00 am worship services. 

      Recently, Pastor Flo and his wife, Kimberly found themselves surprised by a new experience, hosting foreign exchange students.  Last year Stacey Woods, an area representative for Pacific Intercultural Exchange whose son takes piano lessons from Kimberly Flo approached the couple about taking in two students after their host families fell through.  Woods says that the program’s pre-screening process prevents most problems between students and host families, and that she can usually salvage situations that arise from miscommunications. Still, sometimes she has to move a student to a new host home.

      “I would like to say that it’s not often, but that particular year was a hard year for me,” Woods says.  “Every family gets interviewed.  Every family gets a home inspection.  Every family gets a background check.  We’re pretty thorough.”

      In this instance, one student needed a better match with his host family, and another’s host mother faced health issues.  At first overwhelmed by the idea of taking in two students for a whole school year, the Flos declined.  Woods then asked them for short term housing while she made other arrangements.

     “We took them in for two weeks and fell in love with them,” Flo says.  “We thought, this is wonderful.  This is a great way to learn about China and Lebanon, and John, my youngest, had just gone to college last year.”

     Soon, a renewed role at the high school replaced empty nest syndrome.  Kai Wen Yang and Nadine Naboulsi stayed with the Flos for the duration of the school year.  When Woods approached them again this year, they prayed and then eagerly agreed to host Amalie Nygard Jakobsen from Norway and Yelena Nefedova from Russia. 

     “God has his way of pulling us into things,” Flo says.

      After 20 years as a pastor at Grace Lutheran, Flo says that every week he still gets physically ill as he prepares to speak during the days leading up to Sunday services, but that he is fine once he reaches the pulpit and afterwards a sense of peace comes.

     “As I pray and get into the word, then study and prepare and go forward in faith, then I experience a strength that is above and beyond what I normally would experience,” Flo says.  “The peace surpasses all understanding and this thing that [the apostle] Paul talks about, when I am weak then I am strong.  To be Christian means to go the way that you don’t necessarily like to go, but you experience a joy in the midst of it.”

     Along with members of Grace Lutheran, Flo’s wife, Kimberly, two of his four children, Kaari and John, international students Amalie Nygard Jakobsen and Yelena Nefedova, Pastor and Mrs. Thomas Reeder and family from Bonne Terre, Pastor Douglas Balzer from Ballwin, Pastor Norman Bahlow from De Soto, and many close friends attended Flo’s 20 year anniversary celebration.  Pastor Flo says that the greatest surprise of all was seeing his 81 year old mother, Mrs. Signe Beaty from Bricelyn, MN, who drove almost 10 hours by herself to get to attend. 

      "If I can drive a scooter at Walmart at her age, I'll be thankful," Flo says.