REV. ANDREAS M. WALKER-THODE

january 2020

Pastor Andreas was born in New York the same year that his parents arrived in the United States as immigrants, and grew up in northern New Jersey.  A graduate of Columbia University, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies.  After working for a time as an elementary school teacher and finance director for a church in the Bronx, he served the Presbytery of New York City and oversaw the building and property needs of various congregations throughout the five boroughs of New York City.  He received his Masters of Divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus (OH) in 1995.   Pastor Andreas was ordained and installed as Pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Queens, NY in 1996. There he was part of the Queens Citizens Organization, as they helped spear head and develop a $26 million supermarket for the community, and did extensive work with church youth and the self-styled “Youth Innovators” at his congregation.  A community Gospel choir, the Angelic Voices for Christ, produced their first CD while he served there.

In 2003, Pastor Andreas moved to South Florida and joined Church World Service, as the Miami Coordinator of the Religious Services Program, providing Chaplaincy services to detained immigrants.  He also served as the regular pulpit supply pastor for Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Freeport, Grand Bahamas.  In September 2007, he accepted a call at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Miami Gardens.  Subsequently he served as In-Patient Unit Chaplain with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care at the University of Miami Hospital, and later at Hospice by the Sea.  In 2014, he was called as Pastor of Living Faith Lutheran Church in Pembroke Pines, near Ft. Lauderdale.  During 2017, he served the local Reformation500 team, helping develop joint Catholic-Lutheran prayer services, and worked with a team to develop, fund and build a Prayer Labyrinth at the MorningStar Renewal Center in Pinecrest (Miami). 

He is the father of four adult children, and recently moved to the San Diego area to provide support for his parents. His father passed away shortly after his arrival, in May 2018.  He has most recently served as a Chaplain with Hospice of the South Coast. In December 2019, accepted a call to become the Pastor of Carlton Hills Lutheran Church in Santee, CA.  In October 2019, he was married to Tamara Dawn Walker, a former Hospice colleague and now part of the pastoral team at First United Methodist Church of San Diego; they live with her three teens, and a dog and cat in Linda Vista.  They enjoy exploring the culture and cities of Southern California, doing some walking and biking, and he looks forward to occasionally flying a kite and sailing a small sail boat.