Steve Conradt became a member of St. John Lutheran Church, Hermansfort, in 1956 when he was baptized by the Rev. Herman Wegner.
Conradt never guessed that almost 60 years later, a prediction Wegner shared with Conradt’s mother that day would come true — at that very church.
“He told my mom the day of baptism that someday I would be a pastor,” Conradt said. “We always laughed about that.”
At 3 p.m. Sunday, the St. John congregation will celebrate Conradt’s ordination and installation as pastor as he succeeds the Rev. Roland Golz.
Conradt, 57, has lived in the Shawano area his whole life, growing up on a farm in the town of Pella. In school, Conradt said he did not focus on his classes and never received very good grades through high school. He said it was expected that he would ultimately continue to work on his father’s farm, so academics never became a major priority.
After high school, Conradt worked in a slaughterhouse for about a year, cutting the feed out of cow stomachs.
“I am sitting in there, emptying out those stomachs, and you just kind of think to yourself, ‘Is this something I want to do the rest of my life?’” Conradt said.
When he was 19, Conradt visited his brother, a police officer in Wisconsin Rapids, who took him on a ride-along. Conradt said he thought the job seemed like a good opportunity, and he applied for a position at the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department.
“I just turned in an application one day and they eventually hired me,” Conradt said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get hired, but I did, and once I got started there my life pretty much turned around.”
Conradt started at the Sheriff’s Department in 1977 and over the next 30 years climbed the ranks to investigator and administrator, retiring as chief deputy in 2007.
Throughout his career, Conradt was told he missed his calling to become a minister, but he never felt that way.
“I think if I hadn’t (worked at the Sheriff’s Department), I would have been ill-prepared for the ministry,” Conradt said.
Conradt said he first truly began thinking about becoming a pastor a few years before his retirement.
“I would sit in church and think, I can do this. The feeling would just never go away,” Conradt said.
Conradt eventually met with recruiters from a St. Louis seminary, who told him he did not have enough education.
Conradt said he took this as a sign that it was time to start enjoying his retirement and began spending more time with his grandchildren.
Three years after Conradt retired, his wife, Bernadette, saw an advertisement by seminary recruiters in the church bulletin. After some convincing, Conradt agreed to meet a recruiter in Green Bay.
“He had a whole different approach,” Conradt said. “He said, ‘You have dealt with people your life, let’s take a look at your life history.’”
After reviewing his career with recruiters and taking some courses at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Shawano, Conradt was told in February 2011 that he was accepted to the Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
“I looked at my wife and thought, ‘Now what do we do?’” Conradt said. “I am going to have to leave home for 2½ years, and she was going to have to keep the home fires burning here.”
Conradt began his journey through seminary that June. He said being away from his family was difficult. Conradt worked through his classes, passing the 10-week ancient Greek course needed to continue the program, an achievement that boosted his confidence.
“When I first started at seminary, I was pretty scared,” Conradt said. “Your mind tells you that you are too old for this, but halfway through that first semester I thought, I am hanging in there with all these young bucks that just got out of their undergrad.”
However, Conradt said the road was still difficult, both financially and emotionally. Conradt said he had just reached his lowest point when a photo from his grandkids holding signs that read “You can do it Papa” inspired him to continue.
“That picked me up and we made it through,” Conradt said.
Conradt received his vicarage assignment in May 2013 at St. John Lutheran Church, Hermansfort, where his religious journey began. Since his assignment to St. John, Conradt has spent time getting to know the congregation.
“You learn so much from just listening to people and listening to them tell the story of their life,” Conradt said.
Golz, who recently retired from St. John after 21 years, said Conradt did not need a lot of advice during his vicarage.
“He will fit in quite well,” Golz said.
Greg Nordwig, chairman of the congregation, said Conradt is very well known after his many years in the community.
“He is so excited about what he does,” Nordwig said. “I think he is going to be a great pastor for the church and a great asset for the community.”
Conradt said he never thought he would someday be a pastor, as Wegner had predicted all those years ago, but all of the small inspirational moments in his life led him to the ministry and back to St. John.
“Do I believe God was tugging at my heart? 100 percent,” Conradt said. “To give up retirement without somebody interceding in there, and then to spend two and a half years away from your family and get through it — this isn’t about me.”
Conradt’s family includes his wife of 35 years, Bernadette; daughter, Jennifer (Jeff) Brady; son, Daniel (Carol) Conradt; and five grandchildren.
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