With many years of service in Christian ministry, Luke Aadalen and his family are experiencing something new – adjusting to small-town life.

And they’re loving it.

Aadalen has been the lead pastor of the Kingfisher Federated Church for the past two months. The church had been without a full-time pastor for about two years.

“Luke is energetic, personable and very knowledgeable about the Bible,” said Brian Henderson, Federated Church board president.

“He has a lot of appealing qualities to both the younger and older generation.”

Aadalen said he’s excited for the opportunity to serve here and is enjoying learning about life in a small town after either growing up or working in cities with populations ranging from more than 33,000 to nearly 400,000 people.

He and his wife, Abby, have three children – Ren (7), Hope (5), and Levi (3) and are expecting another in December.

Aadalen and his wife grew up in Kansas and still have family there. He said it’s good to be closer to family now that he, his wife and children have moved to Oklahoma.

Aadalen came to Kingfisher after serving as associate pastor in Goshen, Ind., for five years. He said he felt God was guiding him into new opportunities.

His primary roles in Indiana were community outreach and discipleship, but also assisted with worship and videography.

Since moving here, they have begun developing relationships with people in the community, which Aadalen said is a big part of his ministry.

Growing up in Topeka, Kan., Aadalen said he first found a love for Christian ministry as an intern at Topeka Bible Church, where he served in multiple capacities, but primarily as the director of administration for the youth pastor.

“While working with the youth pastor, I discovered a real love for ministry and it really redirected my story,” he said.

Initially pursuing a career in music and vocal performance, Aadalen changed his focus and earned a bachelor’s in pastoral ministry and a master’s in biblical counseling.

It took a while before he had the opportunity to make ministry his full-time career.

He often worked as a volunteer or part-time in churches, garnering experience and learning from mentors along the way, while employed at a full-time job outside the church, he said.

After about 13 years working “bi-vocationally,” Aadalen accepted a full-time position as worship pastor at a church in Wichita, Kan., and served in that position for three years before taking the associate pastor position in Goshen.

Aadalen and his family loved working in Goshen, but he said he felt a stirring that it was time to pursue different opportunities and believes this is where they are supposed to be serving now.

“I am willing to go and do whatever God wants me to do and every time we have moved it has become crystal clear that is where we are meant to be at that moment,” he said.

In the short time they have been in Kingfisher, Aadalen said people have very quickly adopted them as family.

“We have been overwhelmed with the love and kindness of the people here at the Federated Church,” he said.

“They are a wonderful group of people and I feel honored that they have chosen me to lead them at this time.”

Although things have changed somewhat since the beginning of the pandemic, the Federated Church currently holds a Sunday morning worship service, Wednesday night youth group and Tuesday prayer group. They also have several free giveaway events throughout the year and have a free concert scheduled in September.

A large construction project at the church is also ongoing and will provide lots of new outreach opportunities when it is complete.

The multi-purpose building will have a gym, stage, commercial kitchen, bathroom and showers, as well as other features.

When the building project is complete, Aadalen said it will provide new opportunities for the church to work within the community.

At the moment, Aadalen said he is learning how to deal with the effects of the pandemic on the church, but is also building relationships and discovering the talents and hopes of the church family so they can work together to fulfill their purpose.

“Everybody has value and a purpose and I believe in investing in people’s lives and their gifts so we can serve God together,” he said.

Another impressive aspect of the community, Aadalen said, is the way the ministerial alliance comes together to establish a legitimate network of support, utilizing each other’s strengths in a partnership.

“I am excited to dig deeper and participate in the alliance,” he said.

Other hobbies and interests that Aadalen enjoys are singing and songwriting, videography, swimming and is a self-described “coffee nerd.”

He said he loves small towns and is excited about living here and raising their children in this environment. “We are excited to have

“We are excited to have him and his family here,” Henderson said.

Aadalen said he has an “open-door policy” and would love to meet everyone.

“I look forward to building relationships and the day I can walk into places and know most everyone by name,” he said.

As lead pastor, Aadalen said there are amazing people here who want to be involved and his goal is to work with the church to develop different ideas and programs that will be beneficial to the kingdom of God.

“We are partners in the ministry and we will work together as a team to push forward for whatever the future may hold,” Aadalen said.