Pastor Heidi & Lon Kvanli

Welcome Pastors Heidi and Lon!

We are excited to have Pastors Lon and Heidi Kvanli join our Grace Lutheran family as our interim pastors during our transition in finding a permanent pastor. Together, we will explore God’s plan for the ministry and mission of the congregation in this time and place.

A little message from the Kvanli’s::

Our last name comes from the family farm in northern Norway, and in Norwegian it is pronounced K-Vanli. The pronunciation had been Americanized to KWan-li, but we invite people to keep it simple and just call us Pastor Heidi and Pastor Lon.

We both grew up in Minnesota — Heidi in Minneapolis and Lon on a farm near Montevideo. We met in 1977 at Augustana College in Sioux Falls and graduated in 1979. We graduated together from Luther Seminary in 1983.

We have served congregations in Palisade MN, McGregor MN, Cannon Falls MN; Lincoln, Nebraska; Sioux Falls, SD, and Mitchell, SD. We served together as a husband/wife team for about half of our years in ministry and half in separate congregations.

In the early 2000’s we both returned to Luther Seminary and completed doctor of ministry studies in Congregational Mission and Leadership.

Through the years, we have both served synods in various leadership capacities. In addition, we have worked as consultants for congregations in transition.

In 2021, life unexpectedly changed. Heidi was diagnosed with dangerously large meningioma brain tumors. What followed was three cranial surgeries in four months. During the third surgery Heidi suffered a major stroke. When she woke up, she could not walk, talk, or move her right arm or hand. Through determined therapy and with the prayers and support of many people, Heidi has made dramatic improvements. Due to Heidi’s medical needs at that time, we both retired and returned to Sioux Falls. 

We have four adult children – all married with families of their own (our 6 grandchildren). Ask about our family, and we’ll be glad to tell you all about them!

In consultation with Grace’s leadership, we have agreed to serve at 60%-time. This means we will generally be working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Of course, outside of those days, we will do hospital visits and funerals as needed.

Blessings and peace!

Pastors Heidi and Lon