Reverend Dave Whetter
Pastor Dave has been joyfully serving at Salem since October 2009. In 1981, he graduated from the University of the Pacific with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He then spent the following 20 years in a successful business career in which he literally traveled all over the world. In the fall of 2001, he answered God’s call to ordained ministry and began seminary at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City until he could move to Chicago to attend Luther School of Theology. He graduated from Luther School of Theology with a Master of Divinity degree in May 2007. He served his first call at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Overland Park, and after two-and-a-half years as an associate pastor there, felt it was time to answer God’s wider call, which brought him to Salem.

Pastor Dave and his wife, Jill, were married in 1980 and have three children. Jill is a court reporter, a career she has enjoyed off and on since 1980. Their son, D.J., and his wife, Lori, live in Shawnee with their daughter, Addison. D.J. is the Director of Youth Ministry at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Overland Park and Lori is a Digital Supervisor at Zillner, a local marketing and advertising agency. Pastor Dave and Jill’s oldest daughter, Christine, lives in Austin, Texas, where she is an ER Nurse at The Heart Hospital of Austin. Dana, their youngest daughter, is a junior at the University of Kansas, majoring in math. In their free time, Dave and Jill love to spoil Addison, travel, and cook gourmet meals at home together.

It is Good to be Here!

By Dave Whetter on 2/19/2012 9:00 AM
All too often, the church remains silent on issues of the day because we are afraid. We fear we might do the wrong thing. We fear we might not know enough. We fear we do not have enough money to go forward. We fear we might upset someone. We fear we might make a mistake and we are terrified that we might fail. So often our answer is, let’s wait to out. Let’s do nothing for now.
Pastor's Message

What's the Big Secret?

By Dave Whetter on 2/12/2012 9:00 AM
Why did Jesus always tell people not to say anything about what he had done or who he was?  In the very first chapter of Mark, a man possessed by a demon enters the synagogue and the demons recognize Jesus, but Jesus commanded the demons to be quiet (1:25).  Later in this same Chapter, Jesus tells the man with leprosy whom he had healed to say nothing to anyone (1:44).  And in Chapter 9, Jesus tells Peter, James and John to say nothing about the Transfiguration (Mark 9:9) they witnessed as they came down the mountain.  Over and over throughout this Gospel, Jesus would say, Keep this quiet.  What was the big secret?
Pastor's Message

Barriers

By Dave Whetter on 1/29/2012 9:00 AM
Have you ever thought about the barriers you have in your life?  Most of us have fences around our yards so others cannot come into our space.  We have locks on our doors to prevent unwanted visitors.  On a national level we not only have rules as to who can visit our country, but we are in the process of building a wall that will be over 2000 miles long between the U.S. and Mexico.  Whether we want to admit it or not, we like to put up barriers to protect oursleves from the world.

I the church, though, we like to proclaim that we are a place where everyone is welcome.  Is this really true?  Do we have barriers in the chruch, or in our own congregations?  There are more than we think.  If Jesus walked through our doors, would he feel welcome, or would he meet our criteria for membership?
Pastor's Message

Yes, I Mean No!

By Dave Whetter on 1/22/2012 9:00 AM
Remember that old airline commercial where the man is on the phone agreeing to do everything that is asked of him. All you hear is him saying, “I can do that…” He has a worried look on his face as he agrees to each unknown task and when he hangs up the phone he puts his head in his hands and says, “How am I going to do that?” Of course the answer, according to the announcer is to fly the airline that can get you everywhere you need to be.

But, reality is when we say “yes” to do anything, we must be saying “no” to other things. If we agree to attend a meeting in one place, we can’t attend another meeting at the same time, although, these days, many of us try. When we say “yes” to God, we must say “no” to other things, and many times those other things are good things.
Pastor's Message

A Dangerous Invitation

By Dave Whetter on 1/15/2012 9:00 AM
Have you ever been so excited about something that you have experienced that you just had to invite someone else to try that some experience for themselves? I have invited people to go to movies and historic sites that have moved me. I have invited people to read books that I have read and to try new restaurants. You probably have done the same, but, what about your faith in Christ? Have you ever been so excited about Christ that you just had to invite someone to come and experience him? Have you ever invited someone to pray with you, go to worship with you or attend a function where people will be sharing their faith? For most of us, inviting others to experience our faith is just, too, hard. Most of us say we don’t do it because our faith is, too, private, but in reality most likely we do not do it, because we find it to be a dangerous thing to do.

Pastor's Message

We're Not Alone

By Dave Whetter on 12/24/2011 7:30 PM
In a world that places a high value on perfection and expertise, many of us have been told we are just not good enough. Everywhere you look, people are seeking perfection. If we are not an expert at something or if we cannot be the absolute best at something, then we are told we are not good enough. It is not good enough to be ordinary in this world. The story of Christmas changes all that, though; in God’s eyes, each one of us is perfect. In the story we read from the Gospel of Luke tonight, the lines are blurred between perfection and ordinary, and the One who is perfect enters into the world as an “ordinary” human.
Pastor's Message

No Small Thing

By Dave Whetter on 12/18/2011 9:00 AM
So what was the big deal in the birth story of Jesus.  Was it the fact that Mary conceived a child in her womb while she was still a virgin?  Well, that was a miracle, but for the people of Jesus' day that would not have been big news.  After all, they believed that virgin births happened and they considered men such as Plato and Alexander the Great to also be born of virgins.  No, the big news in the story of birth of Jews was in the small things; Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary. 
Pastor's Message

Be Patient

By Dave Whetter on 12/4/2011 9:00 PM
Not many of us would think of John the Baptist when we think of Christmas, but John is the one who prepared the world for the coming of Jesus.  He boldly proclaimed to a world that did not believe that they messiah was coming and the world needed to prepare for this one who was to come.  As we prepare for Christ, John calls us in to the wilderness. 

Where is your wilderness? It might be in the car as you drive to work in silence. It might be in your den at 5:00 a.m. as you sip your morning coffee in the dark or read your morning devotional. It might be as you walk through your neighborhood in the cold. John calls us to a place where we can begin to challenge the societal norms of the day and a place where we can challenge our own morals and the morals of the world.
Pastor's Message

No Time to Rest

By Dave Whetter on 11/27/2011 9:00 AM
For most of us the next four weeks are just a time to wait for December 25. Many of us have already decorated for that day and we will be ready to take down on decorations on December 26. We look forward to the Christmas presents and the fun, but we fail to remember that there is a bigger celebration than the presents. What about the gift of new life? What about Christ? Advent is meant to be a time of waiting, a time of soul-searching and a time of preparation. Advent is the time of year the church remembers the Incarnation. We remember God’s incarnation. We remember His presence with us now and we remember the promise of His return. It is not a time to rest. It is a time to wake up and recognize the needs of this broken world and find ways to make a difference and share with the world that God is present and at work through us to bring about his Kingdom.
Pastor's Message

Give Thanks in All Circumstances

By Dave Whetter on 11/22/2011 7:00 PM
In the book of Deuteronomy, the people are warned not to forget the LORD once they enter the Promised Land. Oh, they remembered the LORD when they were in misery in Egypt, and they remembered the LORD as they wandered in the wilderness and needed His guidance and blessings, but what happened when they finally received the freedom they wanted? We humans tend to only call on God when things are bad in our lives. We blame Him for not blessing us and we wonder why He would allow such things. When things are good, we tend to forget God, because we are a self-reliant people, aren’t we?

Pastor's Message
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