Meet The Pastors

All of us at Ascension Lutheran are here to assist you in your journey of faith and to help you grow in your understanding of God’s love for you. It is our privilege to welcome and serve you as partners in the ministry of Jesus Christ. If you would like to contact us, or if there’s any other way we can serve you, please email us or give us a call at 805-495-0406.

Pastor Tim Delkeskamp

The Reverend Dr. Timothy Delkeskamp serves as Senior Pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, School and Foundation. His installation took place March 19, 2017, after an 18-month call process and a congregation-wide vote. For the previous 13 1/2 years, Pastor Tim served as an associate pastor at Ascension. Pastor Tim was born in Brea, California, and raised in North Orange County. He graduated from California Lutheran University and Luther Seminary. After serving at Mount of Olives Lutheran Church in Mission Viejo, CA, for five years, he accepted the call to come to Ascension. He earned his doctorate from Luther Seminary in Minnesota in 2014. In addition to focusing on Worship, Life Groups, Evangelism/Outreach, Men’s Ministry and Stewardship at Ascension, he is on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County. His wife Chamie, a Methodist pastor, is Ascension Lutheran School’s religion teacher and coordinator of chapel. Their children are Aidan, Jude and Hannah. Their family mission statement is “to do kindness, love justice and walk humbly with their Lord.” (Micah 6:8)

Pastor Julie McCain

Pastor Julie is a Southern California native who went to CLU and Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, and moved back in 2018. She served for 4 years in Marshall, MN, and is enjoying thawing out from the cold! She is Ascension’s Children, Youth, and Family Pastor, and appreciates the chance to equip families to do faith together. Pastor Julie is tasked with intentionally re-thinking our children, youth, and family programs. Most of all, she enjoys learning a person’s story and really getting to know them, and she would love to get to know you over coffee (or tea!); if you’re a parent wondering if Ascension is the right place for your family, why not take her up on that offer? Pastor Julie has fun teaching confirmation and connecting with children, youth, and families of all ages. She has also lived in Seattle, Washington, Anchorage, Alaska, and in Chiang Mai, Thailand and loves all things multicultural, as well as gardening, reading, and hiking. Pastor Julie is eternally grateful to CLU, as she met her husband Brannon while they were high school students attending a synod event there. She values authenticity and appreciates Ascension for carving out space where we can all be real about our struggles and our faith, and do faith together.

Pastor Steve Herder

Pastor Steve was born in Minnesota, raised in Wisconsin and graduated from Wartburg College and Wartburg Seminary in Iowa. After serving congregations in La Porte City and Mason City, Iowa, he served for seventeen years at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Whittier. He has served at Ascension since 2007 with a focus on Senior Adult Ministries. He is the pastoral advisor to the Prayer Team, the Global Ministries Team, and the Community Concerns Committee. He also enjoys doing some music with our Early Childhood Center, teaching Biblical Hebrew and leading mission trips to Peru. Beyond the congregation he serves the synod on the hunger and green faith ministry teams. He served for nine years with the Jubilee USA Network board. He and his wife Julie and their daughter Natalie love living in Newbury Park and enjoying God’s beautiful creation! His passion for ministry is that we all be “people of prayer, lifelong learners, faithful witnesses and world servants for Christ.”

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Sam's Tram Rolls Again

by Brian Festerling, SAM’s Tram Coordinator

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the SAM’s Tram service from Ascension has been pretty quiet. However, now that many of us have vaccines and feel more comfortable being out and about, it’s time to reintroduce the program! SAM’s Tram is Ascension’s Senior Adult Ministries transportation service. We match seniors from our congregation that need rides to local appointments with Ascension volunteers that are willing to drive.

RIDERS

If you’re a senior who needs a ride (or a caregiver for one), please contact me with the ride details. My contact info is at the end of the article. The more lead time you can give me -- at least a week or two is best -- the more likely I can find a driver for you. I’ll let you know either way. The service is free! If you feel compelled to give something, you can give your driver a dollar to go to Ascension’s Caring Ones to help the needy in our area.

DRIVERS

We’re always looking for more volunteer drivers to add to our roster. There is NO long-term commitment. I blast out detailed ride requests via e-mail to all of our drivers. You need only say “yes” to a ride that works for your schedule, and your only commitment is for that one ride. Many of us work and can only drive occasionally. That’s OK! The more drivers we have on our roster, the more likely we can fulfill a given request, and the workload gets spread around. This is a simple and effective ministry and we’d love to have you join us! Please call or e-mail me if you’re interested.

TESTIMONIAL

“[SAM’s Tram was] a blessing to my mom when she could not drive anymore. The friendly drivers got her to her weekly hair appointments, and occasional other doctor/dentist appointments. The social interaction with the drivers gave her a lift and became a bright spot in her declining life quality. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when two drivers who were more frequent came to my mom’s celebration of life service. What a dedicated group of people, making a difference in the lives of our elders!” — Excerpt from a thank you note written by the daughter of one of our riders

FAST FACTS

- Pastor Steve started SAM’s Tram in 2011.

- Since 2017 we have had 287 ride requests and fulfilled 220 of them (77%)

- 69% of our requests are for doctor appointments, 9% for worship services, 8% for beauty/barber, and 14% “other”

Please pray for our SAM’s Tram riders and drivers, and contact me anytime if we can be of service to you, or if you you’d like to join us as a driver.

Sincerely,

Brian Festerling SAM’s Tram Coordinator

805-558-8076 (cell)

ps - we've had an uptick in requests and could always use new drivers.

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Meet The Pastors

Pastor Tim Delkeskamp

Pastor Julie McCain

Pastor Steve Herder

Ascension Lutheran Church

Worship Times:

ELCA

Sam's Tram Rolls Again