OSMOND — After nearly a year without a permanent shepherd for its flock, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Osmond now has a new pastor, Rev. Brian Tuma. Rev. Tuma was installed at Immanuel on Sunday, Oct. 30.
Immanuel’s previous pastor, Rev. Scott Kirchoff, accepted a call to a parish in South Carolina in December of 2024, and the church has been under the guidance of vacancy pastor Rev. Jacob Tuma since that time. Brian Tuma is Rev. Jacob Tuma’s father.
At a call meeting at Immanuel Lu- theran Church on Aug. 10, the voters elected to call Rev. Brian Tuma, who was the pastor at St. John’s Lutheran in Cordova, NE. He and his wife, Rebecca, came for a visit on Tuesday, Aug. 19, and made decision to accept the call in September.
The new pastor grew up in southern Minnesota, on a dairy farm near Montgomery, MN, and graduated Montgomery-Lonsdale High School in 1988. He initially went to a two-year agriculture college in Wauseca, MN, graduating in 1990 with a degree in ag production with a dairy emphasis.
Since he grew up on a dairy farm, that’s what he thought the Lord intended for him to do for the rest of his life.
"But He kind of changed that course,” he said.
Shortly after he graduated, he met his wife, Rebecca, and they were married in 1993. During that time, his family had a family dream of expand- ing the dairy facility - looking into the future for him and his brother.
However, right at the time they started looking into that, the county put a feedlot moratorium on, for waste management, so they couldn’t build beyond a certain size based on animal units.
Since the family needed to build above that size to realize their dream, that wouldn't make it feasible, and it put a halt on everything.
Pastor Tuma laughed though, say- ing, "Through all this, I kid you not — the more I prayed, the worse things went. I was thinking, 'Lord make this work.' But he didn't make it work!" He then got serious, stating, "But through all of it, as I prayed about things, and I thought about things, I really sensed the Lord leading me in this direction. So I’m very grateful that it (the dairy expansion) didn’t go through.”
But he said it affected his brother’s future, and his parents too. But as things worked out, they were thankful they didn't do it, because milk prices really went down. He remembers his father saying he was glad they didn’t do it, because he didn't know if they would have survived it.
Pastor Tuma said he went to a parochial school when he was younger
and he had "kind of" thought about going into the ministry then, so as the dairy door closed, and praying about things, he looked into ministry and a door was opened, so that’s the door he took.
He moved off the dairy farm in May of 1998 and moved down to Concordia University in Seward. He didn't have a bachelor’s degree, which he needed in order to go to the seminary. So he and his wife spent three years in Seward, and then moved to St. Louis, MO, so he could attend seminary for four years.
He did his vicarage in Holdrege, in Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, and his first call was to Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Sylvan Grove, KS, where he stayed for three years.
He last served at St. John's Lutheran in Cordova, NE. He was at St. John's
for 17 years.
Asked why he decided to make the move to Osmond after 17 years, he said, “Well, it was a big decision to make. I guess I really just felt my heart leading us in this direction.”
He said things change over the years.
The previous calls he had, he said it felt like he was just testing God in consid - ering taking them, but it seemed like things weren’t quite right, and this one to Osmond "there were no red flags, it just felt like the Lord was leading me and saying 'Trust me on this one.
This is the direction I want you to go.’
It just felt like a good fit. Obviously with family here, but not just biological family, the community was family, the congregation was family.”
Pastor Tuma doesn't plan on making any changes to how things are done at Immanuel. He said as he goes to serve a new congregation, he doesn’t come in with a plan to make change. He plans to do a lot of listening, getting to know people and getting to know the story of Immanuel and its people.
He also plans on being involved with Immanuel’s preschool and getting to REV. TUMA IS NEW PASTOR AT IMMANUEL LUTHERAN
know the children and the families. He feels that’s a great way to serve the community.
Pastor Tuma and Rebecca are living in the parsonage across the street from the church. His son Jacob and his wife, Grace, live in Pierce with their four children and one more on the way. His daughter Amberlyn and husband Martin Hill live in Martinsburg, NE, with their two daughters. Martin is a Lutheran pastor at Martinsburg.
“I have a son who is a pastor and a son-in-law who is a pastor,” he laughed.
In their spare time, the Tumas enjoy outdoor activities and nature, such as camping and hiking.
He said of his first impressions of the community, “Very nice. Very thankful. The congregation, when we moved in, literally welcomed us with open arms. Open arms to receive all the boxes we had!” he laughed. “We feel very welcome, and it seems like a very nice community. We’re looking forward to getting to know, not only church members, but community members, and being a part of the community.”
