The Rev. Erika Breddin ’94
Cedar Falls, Iowa
No matter how often she was turned away, the Rev. Erika Breddin persevered in her pursuit of her vocation: service to others through the church.
Erika grew up the child of Lutheran missionaries in Papua New Guinea, so her chosen calling was less than surprising. After graduating from Wartburg College with a degree in music education, she spent several years fixing musical instruments before enrolling at Wartburg Theological Seminary.
Her journey to ordination would be interrupted after her third year in seminary when she was outed as transgender. She was forced to leave the seminary at a time when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was years away from ordaining LGBTQIA+ clergy. After a break, she rejoined church life as a parishioner — and after much nudging from others in her congregation, she stepped into leadership and was ordained in the United Church of Christ.
While serving a congregation in Ohio, she publicly transitioned her gender. Living her truth, however, led to her separation from her congregation there. Undeterred, she enrolled again at Wartburg Theological Seminary after an emerita faculty pressed Breddin’s case with the institution and paved the way for her to resume her studies. She earned her master’s degree in 2021 and accepted calls at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church and Zion Lutheran Church, both in Waterloo, becoming the first openly transgender clergywoman to serve an ELCA congregation in Iowa and one of only a handful in the entire country.
“Erika has persisted in her calling despite being thrown out of the candidacy process,” wrote the Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes, one of Breddin’s nominators. “She took a huge leap of faith in transitioning while pastoring in Ohio, which unfortunately led to her being ousted from that congregation.”
While the ELCA officially affirms and ordains LGBTQIA+ clergy, Erika continues to push back on prejudice, noting that gay and transgender clergy often wait far longer for calls than their colleagues.
“Erika plays an active role in encouraging other LGBTQIA+ clergy and seminarians in the ELCA and other denominations through social media and in-person efforts,” Clausen de Montes wrote.
For her steadfast devotion to serving others through her faith, for her ongoing efforts to combat prejudice, and for living boldly, the Wartburg College Alumni Board is pleased to present the Rev. Erika Breddin with an Alumni Citation.
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