Renee Franzen

“The early formation story is the reason.” This was how Rev. Renee Franzen began her story. 
Renee’s early formation planted two strong impulses: generosity and friendship with Jesus. Living paycheck to paycheck did not diminish the generous spirit of her parents, who always cared for others—the poor, the hungry, the outcast. Caring for others was simply what one did as a Christian; it’s what it meant to be a Christian. And the undisputable fact that Renee’s dad enjoyed a friendship with Jesus (they were “buddies”) meant that “God couldn’t not be real.”

This upbringing, where faith and life walked hand in hand, formed Renee and her siblings deeply. Renee’s call to ministry began in childhood, as she came to understand that “To be a Christian meant to allow God to put you to work.”

Renee was raised at Brookdale Covenant Church in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where a sermon preached during her senior year of high school solidified her identity as a Christian. Pastor Lindquist preached on Isaiah 61:1–3 that particular morning:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,  2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”

Upon hearing these words, Renee thought, “Oh! That’s what it means to be a Christian? Then I’m in!” Fully immersed in the Christian life as she had been, this text screamed at her as nothing had before. She realized that the kind of person described in the Isaiah text was the kind of person she wanted to be, that serving the brokenhearted was what she wanted to do.
Renee received her degree in social work from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, married husband Tim, and worked as a social worker in Chicago (briefly) and Minnesota. When Brookdale Covenant began a counseling service, Renee was hired, ultimately serving both church and community through this ministry for seven years. 

When Rev. Paul Erickson was called to Brookdale, he encouraged Renee to consider a pastoral vocation, which she initially thought was “utter nonsense.” But Pastor Erickson wouldn’t give up, and when the counseling center closed its doors, he hired Renee as Brookdale’s youth director. As it turned out, Renee loved serving in this capacity, and when the job broadened to associate pastor, she stepped in. After a handful of years, she left to complete a graduate degree in counseling psychology and opened her own Christian counseling practice, where she would work for thirteen years.

While Renee was working as a counselor, God brought a life-changing advocate and friend into Renee’s life. Covenant Pastor Carol Lawson sought her out and shared that several people in the Covenant were getting ministerial credentials in her area of expertise. When Renee assured her that ministry was in her past, Carol asked if she had heard of Spiritual Direction, as the ECC was about to start a training program. Renee applied to the program and was accepted into the first spiritual direction cohort at North Park Theological Seminary, graduating in 2007. 

Renee will state emphatically that the ministry of spiritual direction changed her life, both personally and vocationally. In fact, she would argue that there have been two key movements of the Holy Spirit in the history of our denomination: ordaining women and embracing the ministry of spiritual direction. 

From 2007 on, Renee was all in. She completed seminary at NPTS and was ordained to Word and Service in 2014. She has served the Northwest Conference and ECC in a number of roles, including a five-year term on the Board of Ordered Ministry and leading Deeper in Christ retreats, while maintaining a vibrant spiritual direction practice. 

Renee returned to Brookdale Covenant as associate pastor, moving to the lead pastor role when the pastor left unexpectedly. She served Brookdale faithfully until her retirement in June 2024. That’s five pastoral roles—associate, solo, co-pastor, lead pastor, and now pastor emeritus—all in the single congregation where she was raised. 

There’s a form of growing that comes in moving and changing jobs, and there’s another form of growing that comes in staying put, serving one place steadily and faithfully through movement and change. And there’s an additional layer of growing that comes in serving in these capacities as a woman. Yes, even in 2025. 

When asked to reflect on women in ministry, Renee’s passion became palpable. She shared that her heart finds delight as she watches God intentionally place women in ministry, serving alongside men in healthy and relational ways. She deems it deeply important that this is both respected and guarded, and she expresses heartache at the reality that women still face uphill battles in being hired and respected. Her thoughts find their center in our shared identity as people of the Book, a Book that elevates women unequivocally, even naming a woman as the first evangelist. She closed by referencing Acts 2, which describes men and women, of different tribes and tongues, together embracing the way of Jesus and an Isaiah 61 life. From the beginning, the church has always been, and forever will remain, a movement that calls and gifts all people, equally. 

Renee’s early formation may have been the foundation of her call, but countless companions on the journey interceded, spoke prophetically, prayed, and companioned her along the journey toward vocation. As I consider Renee’s life and work, Frederick Buechner’s words come to mind: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Thank you Renee, for showing us what it looks like to notice, to hunger, to long, to fight, and to persevere, for God’s glory and neighbor’s good. Well done, faithful one!