Thank you for visiting Holy Cross on the web. I'm John Stiles, pastor of this community of faith. I was raised in Albert Lea, MN and attended Grace Lutheran Church growing up.
Education: I graduated from Augustana College (Sioux Falls, SD) in 1989 with a BA in Elementary Education; and from Wartburg Theological Seminary (Dubuque, IA) in 1993.
Work: I've served at the following congregations: Grace Lutheran Church / Fairmont, MN / 1993 - 1996 Grace Lutheran Church / Mankato, MN / 1996 - 2000 Christ the King Lutheran Church / New Brighton, MN / 2000 - 2005 Holy Cross Lutheran Church / Oakdale, MN / 2005 - present
I hope you'll take a few minutes to look around and learn more about the
many ways God is working through the people of this church. I've posted a few resources here for our youth ministries as well as adult Bible study. As a musician, I've also posted some music on this page. There is a link for sermons (on my blog) and updates from our summer 2010 trip to Tanzania.
Click on the files to the left to download registration forms, sermon notes, service hour forms, etc.
Connect with me on Facebook!
You can connect with me and other members and friends on Facebook by clicking on the link above.
Gathering in Second Life
We've wrapped up our fall Bible Study in Second Life (an online virtual world) which included live participants at church! Stay tuned for future updates after the first of the year. You may follow the link above to set up an account and create your own avatar. Then join the group "SL Lutherans" and check the notices for times and locations. My username is named Vinnie Martynov in SecondLife. All are welcome!
HMCHA (Holistic Ministry of Children of the Horn of Africa)
As a founding board member of HMCHA I encourage you to support a child for a dollar a day. Click on the "HMCHA logo" above to learn more about this ministry for children in Ethiopia, or go to www.hmcha.org.
