PRESCOTT – Pastor Samuel Crass, who prefers to go by Sam, has been at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Prescott for just over a year and has grown to love the community. He began serving the congregation in January 2025.

“I have enjoyed settling in and look forward to getting to know more about our town. Prescott is a wonderful place to live and I am thrilled to serve our members at St. Paul's,” he said.

Crass said he always wanted to serve others and aspired to speak the comfort of the Gospel. He wanted to be a pastor for as long as he can remember.

“When I was very young, my father served as a parish pastor in a small town with a large congregation,” Crass said. “He still continues to serve in the ministry. I also have a brother who serves in the ministry and a sister who is married to a pastor… I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?”

Crass spent most of his life in Watertown, a town built along the Rock River with several iconic water towers – one of which happened to be in his family’s backyard.

“Having recently lived close to the Missouri River and now living along the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi, I now wonder if I have an unrealized fondness for living close to flowing water…although I am not a terrific swimmer,” he said.

Crass attended Luther Preparatory School, a dormitory high school in Watertown for youth considering the ministry. He enrolled at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn., where he completed four years of study. He then spent four more years at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon.

During is time at the seminary, he had the opportunity to serve as a vicar (pastor in training) for a year in Grove City, Ohio. After graduating the seminary, he served as a Lutheran high school dorm supervisor for two years in Watertown.

“Before I served in Prescott, I had the opportunity to serve more than five years at two sister congregations: St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church in Naper, Neb. and Zion Ev. Lutheran Church in Bonesteel, S.D.,” Crass said.

Currently single and living by himself, Crass said he loves the experience of family life after growing up in a family of six. His parents still live in Watertown but his siblings (an older brother and two younger sisters) have spread out across Tennessee, Ontario and Wisconsin.

“I also have five wonderful nieces and a wonderful nephew who each are walking faster, speaking better, and getting taller each time I visit,” Crass said. “I remember church being a regular part of my life growing up and am thankful that it is also true in the lives of each of my nieces and my nephew. As a bonus, it also pays dividends when I get to watch them sing in front of church, usually via livestream; occasionally, I get to hear them sing absentmindedly to themselves when I visit.”

In his spare time, Crass enjoys reading, cross-country running, and outdoor recreation (hiking, biking, camping, fishing). He also likes to practice and play piano. He truly loves being a pastor.

“Well, it comes with its perks (one being first dibs on leftover desert),” he joked. “But I’d have to say the thing I most enjoy is the unique and rich opportunities there are to share the unshakeable comfort, abiding peace, and overwhelming joy that God gives to everyone in the Gospel—whether in Sunday worship, during a Bible study, or while making an in-home visit.”

Throughout March, everyone is invited to the congregation’s Wednesday Lenten Suppers at 6 p.m., followed by the midweek Lenten worship at 7 p.m. Crass also invites everyone to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection and victory over death on Easter Sunday, April 5 with services at 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. A meal will be served between services.

When asked for his favorite Bible verse, Crass said he could choose from many.

“However, one that stands out to me is Ephesians 2:8-9. It is a confident reminder that God’s love and forgiveness don’t depend on me, but rather on the sure and certain promises God has already given me and all people in Christ. I know then that his love and forgiveness never change. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

St. Paul’s is located at 1061 Orrin Road in Prescott. To learn more, visit spprescott.org or email Crass at pastor@spprescott.org