meet pastor alliyah BlakeleyPastor Alliyah was installed at St. John as our pastor on September 12, 2021. She can be reached at the church office by phone or by email. Below is more information about our pastor.
Pastor Alliyah married Randy Blakeley on May 18, 2024 at a service at St. John. Pastor Alliyah was ordained August 15, 2021 at her home congregation Christ the King Lutheran Church in Yankton, South Dakota. She served her internship year at St. John Lutheran of Boerne, Texas under the guidance of Pastor Eric Waters, with Associate Pastor Mariola Bergquist. She is the oldest daughter of Pastor Dani Jo Bierwagen and Pastor William Greaver. Her sister is Talitha Greaver. She received two MDiv degrees, from the North American Lutheran Seminary and Trinity School for Ministry. Pastor Alliyah also did pastoral studies at Luther Seminary and the Institute of Lutheran Theology. Her undergraduate degree is from Drake University, Des Moines, IA with a double major in Religion and Socio-Legal Studies. Before coming to St. John, Pastor Alliyah worked in Christian Education settings and at Ingham-Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp. She is a member of the Greater Greenville Ministerial Association and the NALC's Southwest Ohio Mission District Executive Committee. Pastor Alliyah serves our churchwide denomination by serving on the North American Lutheran Seminary Board of Regents. She loves the Lord and is happy to be part of the St. John and Greenville community. If you would like to learn more about the church, Pastor Alliyah would be happy to get connected and meet with you. |
Pastoral Emergencies or Pastoral Needs
If you would like to visit with Pastor, please contact the church office to schedule a time to visit. If you have a more immediate pastoral need or a pastoral emergency please do not hesitate to contact the church office or call Pastor's cell number. Pastor Alliyah can also be reached at her email: [email protected]. |
Pastor’s Thoughts… (from the December Newsletter)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Peace to you in this blessed time of the church year as we approach Advent (beginning December 1 with our Hanging of the Greens Service) and celebrate Christmas! John the Baptist’s refrain for this season is “Prepare the Way!” but what does it mean to be “Prepare the Way” for Christ? As I prepare for winter, I usually double check that my vehicle is “ready” with emergency supplies in case I should face a winter emergency... a flashlight, a blanket, some jumper cables, maybe a shovel, and certainly a pair of gloves, and a trusty ice-scraper. Admittedly, sometimes I’m not sure exactly “what” I am preparing for – and the same can be said of Advent for us sometimes too. Are we preparing for our home Christmas celebrations? Are we making sure our Christmas gift lists have been covered? Are we preparing for Christmas Eve service? Are we preparing for the second coming? Or all of the above?
Our Advent preparations are a little different than my emergency Winter preparations – because we do know what we are preparing for. We anticipate together the coming of Christ – into our lives, and into our world; not only as a remembrance of when he came long ago in a manger, but when he comes to us now in his word, in his sacrament, and will ultimately come to welcome us to our heavenly home. We welcome the ways he comes to enter our lives in the here and now, while we anticipate the ways we still long for his peace, hope, joy, and love to come into this world when he makes all things new.
Our preparation then is less about gathering up things, and more about clearing our hearts (confession, repentance, and absolution) and then remembering what we are looking for by recalling the good news and sharing it with others; that Jesus Christ, the savior, our messiah, the prince of peace and Lord of Lords has already come for us and for our neighbors! Amen! The decorations, the scriptures, our hymns, and our worship all point our hearts to this blessed news to prepare our hearts for what we joyfully await; Jesus Christ’s coming to us – where we’re at, in all our sin, in a world of darkness, in all our ordinariness.
This Advent, I invite you to listen to John’s call to “Prepare the Way” ... not just by decorating our homes and attending our Christmas Eve service, but by entering into the story – dwell on the good news of Jesus Christ, believe, and live in that good news, and then share the news with your family and neighbor too!
Our newsletter is filled with opportunities to serve our community this season, shining Christ’s light into the world, and also shares some inspiring stories of ways Christ’s light has been shared in 2024 through our Pay it Forward Program, Michael’s Home collection, Christmas Shoe Box Collection and more. Thank you for joining us in this mission and know that you and your family are in my prayers. You are each warmly invited to our Christmas Eve Service where we once more will hear the good news and experience the light of Christ so we may bring it into the world! God’s peace and blessings be with you now in the year ahead!
+ Pastor Alliyah
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Peace to you in this blessed time of the church year as we approach Advent (beginning December 1 with our Hanging of the Greens Service) and celebrate Christmas! John the Baptist’s refrain for this season is “Prepare the Way!” but what does it mean to be “Prepare the Way” for Christ? As I prepare for winter, I usually double check that my vehicle is “ready” with emergency supplies in case I should face a winter emergency... a flashlight, a blanket, some jumper cables, maybe a shovel, and certainly a pair of gloves, and a trusty ice-scraper. Admittedly, sometimes I’m not sure exactly “what” I am preparing for – and the same can be said of Advent for us sometimes too. Are we preparing for our home Christmas celebrations? Are we making sure our Christmas gift lists have been covered? Are we preparing for Christmas Eve service? Are we preparing for the second coming? Or all of the above?
Our Advent preparations are a little different than my emergency Winter preparations – because we do know what we are preparing for. We anticipate together the coming of Christ – into our lives, and into our world; not only as a remembrance of when he came long ago in a manger, but when he comes to us now in his word, in his sacrament, and will ultimately come to welcome us to our heavenly home. We welcome the ways he comes to enter our lives in the here and now, while we anticipate the ways we still long for his peace, hope, joy, and love to come into this world when he makes all things new.
Our preparation then is less about gathering up things, and more about clearing our hearts (confession, repentance, and absolution) and then remembering what we are looking for by recalling the good news and sharing it with others; that Jesus Christ, the savior, our messiah, the prince of peace and Lord of Lords has already come for us and for our neighbors! Amen! The decorations, the scriptures, our hymns, and our worship all point our hearts to this blessed news to prepare our hearts for what we joyfully await; Jesus Christ’s coming to us – where we’re at, in all our sin, in a world of darkness, in all our ordinariness.
This Advent, I invite you to listen to John’s call to “Prepare the Way” ... not just by decorating our homes and attending our Christmas Eve service, but by entering into the story – dwell on the good news of Jesus Christ, believe, and live in that good news, and then share the news with your family and neighbor too!
Our newsletter is filled with opportunities to serve our community this season, shining Christ’s light into the world, and also shares some inspiring stories of ways Christ’s light has been shared in 2024 through our Pay it Forward Program, Michael’s Home collection, Christmas Shoe Box Collection and more. Thank you for joining us in this mission and know that you and your family are in my prayers. You are each warmly invited to our Christmas Eve Service where we once more will hear the good news and experience the light of Christ so we may bring it into the world! God’s peace and blessings be with you now in the year ahead!
+ Pastor Alliyah
Pastor Alliyah Greaver's Installation Service, September 12, 2021.
Pastor Alliyah's Installation Service at St. John Lutheran Church with Mission District Dean Pastor Paul Schultz presiding at the installation.
Pastor Alliyah's Installation Service at St. John Lutheran Church with Mission District Dean Pastor Paul Schultz presiding at the installation.
Pastor Alliyah Greaver's Ordination Service, August 15, 2021.
Pastor Alliyah's Ordination into the office of Pastoral Ministry took place at Christ the King Lutheran Church, Yankton, SD with Bishop Dan Selbo of the NALC presiding.
Pastor Alliyah's Ordination into the office of Pastoral Ministry took place at Christ the King Lutheran Church, Yankton, SD with Bishop Dan Selbo of the NALC presiding.