FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Hope Lutheran Church, 211 Elton-Adelphia Road, Freehold Township, will install the Rev. Dr. Edward E. Kropa as its new pastor during a service on Sept. 24.
Kropa, who is known as Pastor Ed to his congregation, spent part of his youth in Freehold Township. In 1967, when he was 11, he and his family became charter members of the new Hope Lutheran Church, according to a press release from the church.
“During this period, I regularly served as an acolyte and was involved in the church youth group. In fact, it was while growing up at Hope that slowly but surely I began to sense a call to ministry,” he said.
While attending college, Kropa began to explore the possibility of religious service and applied to Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. He accepted an offer of admission and earned his Master’s of Divinity.
In 1985, Kropa returned to Hope Lutheran Church where he was ordained by Pastor Albert W. Gibson Jr. He went on to earn a Doctorate in Ministry at Drew University, Madison, according to the press release.
During Kropa’s 32 years of pastoral leadership, he and his wife, Jeanette, have served six churches and raised three daughters.
Asked about his journey back to Freehold Township, Kropa said, “Not only am I coming back to my church, I am returning to my community. Returning to Hope is coming home.”
Hope Lutheran Church, which services 761 congregants, is a participating congregation in The New Jersey Synod, a geographical grouping of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations.
Kropa’s installation service will be held at the church at 10:45 a.m. Sept. 24 and members of the public are welcome to attend. The ceremony will be officiated by Bishop Rev. Tracie L. Bartholomew with a reception to follow in Fellowship Hall.