{"id":420,"date":"2026-02-20T22:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=420"},"modified":"2026-02-23T23:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T23:31:55","slug":"student-spotlight-ginny-jesser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/20\/student-spotlight-ginny-jesser\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Ginny Jesser"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where did you grow up, and what first got you interested in studying theology and ministry?
<\/strong>I grew up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and attended a small Seventh Day Adventist church in Richville. We shared a pastor among several churches, so we all took turns with worship during the weeks the pastor could not be with us. This gave me the opportunity to give my first sermon at the age of 10. I compared Jonah to Job. I felt the \u201citch\u201d at that point, but the SDA church does not ordain women. Insert a lot of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I worked as a secretary for my former congregation and felt the itch again. I learned about the SAM lay ministry program and told myself it would be okay to do that. At one of the training sessions, the ice breaker was naming the earliest impactful faith memory. All at once, I was 10 and feeling all the feelings I felt while giving my first sermon. Jon Anderson from Luther was there\u2014he told me about the Jubilee scholarship, and I was very much out of excuses. The next month, the training was on the Bible, and Michael Chan\u2014a former Old Testament professor at Luther\u2014used a comparison of Jonah and Job to teach the lesson. Jesus\u2019 earthly father was a carpenter, so it only makes sense that sometimes he has to use a (metaphorical) 2-by-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ginny<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If applicable, what did you study as an undergraduate and where did you go?
<\/strong>I attended Minnesota State University-Moorhead (MSUM) where I obtained a bachelor\u2019s in project Management and also became a dragon (I always knew I was a little magical!). I also have an associates degree in administrative assistance from MSUM (they were the Spartans).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What degree program are you in at Luther Seminary, and what are you hoping to do with your seminary education?
<\/strong>I am in the M.Div. program, and my goal is to work in ministry part time while still working until the youngest kiddo is 18. That will get me experience in a semi-protected realm (Fargo\/Moorhead). Once the kids are older, we plan to move to NE Minnesota, where I plan to do full-time rural ministry. But we make plans and God laughs\u2014so I guess we will see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has your student experience been like, and what do you do\u2014professionally and otherwise\u2014when you’re not studying?
<\/strong>As a distributed learner residing just outside of Harwood, North Dakota, my student experience has been an exciting version of overwhelming. I am loving all I am learning and learning a ton all at once. I love how I feel so supported in so many ways, from the faculty and other students at Luther to my congregation (my pastor currently was a mom in high school and is an amazing mentor) to my family. My husband is agnostic, and I am humbled by how much he loves me that he supports me so fully in this journey. He has taken on extra housework, kept the kids entertained while I study, and sacrificed date nights so I could read just one more thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My day job is working full time for Essentia Health. I am a clinical application analyst on their IS team, which means I spend my day in a world of rules telling Epic how to behave for the revenue services piece of the healthcare equation. It really does sound a lot fancier than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I am not working, studying, loving my family, or serving my church, I enjoy reading, cross stitching, long walks, photography (mostly the northern lights), writing (mostly poetry or other philosophical doodles), jigsaw puzzles, and baking. I am the quintessential old lady home body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How would you describe the value of Luther\u2019s strength as an academic institution?
<\/strong>I love the diverse perspectives and the approach of leading with wonder. That is going to be invaluable when I encounter a variety of thoughts and ideas \u201cin the field.\u201d It prepares me for healthy dialogues that will inevitably happen in a variety of ways in parish ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ginny<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What’s your favorite movie?
<\/strong>My favorite movie is Pollyanna, and you will often find me saying \u201con the bright side.\u201d Even when my power went out at -20 degrees\u2014which also meant no running water because our well is electric\u2014my bright side was that my phone was charged and that our concrete house kept us warm. And we had a fire pot that my husband was willing to wake up to light. The phone being charged allowed me to have distance fellowship with neighbors as we found ways to keep warm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ginny Jesser grew up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, gave her first sermon at the age of 10, and is pursuing an M.Div. so she can continue serving rural communities. As a distributed learner living in North Dakota and working full time, she says her student experience is “an exciting version of overwhelming.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions\/439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}