Pastor Ronald B. Unger
Ronald B. Unger was born in 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland
and grew up in Evanston and Wilmette, Illinois. Ron graduated from
Concordia College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with a B.A. degree in 1965.
He attended Concordia Theological Seminary in St Louis, Missouri
receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 1969. His internship was in
Brooklyn, New York.
Rev. Unger was first called to serve as pastor of Peace Lutheran
Church & Student Center on the campus of DePaul University in
Greencastle, Indiana (1969-1974). His next call was in North Canton,
Ohio at Holy Cross Lutheran Church (1974-1983). From 1983-1987, he
served St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Providence, Rhode Island. In
1987, Ron moved to the Greater New Orleans area serving St Paul
Lutheran Church (1987-1991), Bethlehem Lutheran Church as a vacancy
pastor (1994-1999), and Lutheran Church of the Galilean (1995-2005).
Pastor Unger is currently serving as Pastor of Christ the King
Lutheran Church in Kenner.
Rev. Unger has served campus, suburban and inner city congregations.
The churches have been white, multi-cultural or African American.
They have been situated in the Midwest, Northeast, and the South. In
the early and mid 1990's, he served as Catholic Charities
Administrator of RAIN (Regional AIDS Inter-faith Network), a
state-wide program of congregational based care teams serving people
living with AIDS. This was followed by service as the Executive
Director of the Northlake AIDS Network (the primary AIDS agency for
Region 9 of Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals) before
returning to full-time ministry.
He and Deborah have been married for fourteen years Deborah teaches
Gifted English at Hahnville High School. They share four grown
children: Natasha and Nina Unger, and Brad and Amanda Baudot.
Associate in Ministry Sandra Barnes
Sandra Barnes has lived in the
New Orleans area all of her life, graduating Valedictorian from
Riverdale High School. She then attended Loyola University in
New Orleans from which she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Religious Studies as a Presidential Honors
Scholar.
Sandra completed an internship at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
in Marrero. As an Associate in Ministry (AIM), she served House
of Prayer Lutheran Church in Harvey for four years while they
went through the call process. In October 2003, Christ the King
Lutheran Church called Sandra to serve as Associate in Ministry
for Parish Education. She then served as Transitional Pastor
before Rev. Ron Unger was called. Sandra Barnes is currently
going through the candidacy process for ordination and attends
Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans and Lutheran School of
Theology in Chicago.
Throughout her ministry and career, Sandra has devoted herself
to children. In addition to her service at Christ the King,
Sandra is also an elementary school teacher. She has been
teaching since 1989, and has won a variety of educational awards
over the years. Sandra and her husband David have two children,
Robert and Samantha. In their precious little spare time, they
love camping and Disney World.