About
Meet our Pastor
Pastor Greg Hartman was called to serve at New Spirit on August 14, 2022.
Before seminary, he had a 10-year career within the non-profit sector. He worked for a variety of organizations, including a chamber of commerce, the Boy Scouts of America, a domestic violence shelter, and a shelter serving primarily homeless male veterans dealing with substance use disorder. In his career he planned over 1,000 events, raised $1,000,000 and managed thousands of volunteers. While in his senior year of seminary, he was assigned 2 congregations to serve as their Pastoral presence, which eventually became his first call.
As a first call Pastor in rural Maryland, the two congregations he served formed a shared ministry site. During his time with South Mountain Shared Ministry, in addition to the challenges of Covid, we also began the process of revitalization in both congregations. Beginning ministry during Covid meant learning how to shape his pastoral identity while also quickly learning how to “do church” and “be church” in a drastically different context than he was trained in during seminary. He will carry the lessons learned and memories made during that first call throughout the rest of his pastoral career.
As the Pastor of New Spirit, he looks forward to working with you to create and sustain ministries that will serve both the congregation and the surrounding community. He looks forward to working with the music and worship committee to continue New Spirit’s unique worship life. He immediately connected with New Spirit’s willingness to live into Jesus’ calling for our lives as seen in Matthew 25:35-40. The principles in Matthew 25 are a cornerstone to my own faith life and have dramatically shaped my ministry
But who is the person behind the collar? He attended Texas Lutheran University, receiving a BA in Theology. TLU is where he met his wife, Naomi, whom he has been married to since 2009. Naomi graduated seminary and was ordained in 2009. He attended United Lutheran Seminary and graduated in 2019, being ordained that May. They moved to Tucson so that Pastor Naomi could accept and begin a new call at Lutheran Church of the Foothills in December of 2021. Naomi and Pastor Hartman have 3 terrific kids.
In 1998, he had brain decompression surgery for Chiari Malformation. While the surgery stabilized his condition it did not relieve all the symptoms he deals with, which include chronic pain, brain fog, and nerve sensitivity. Thankfully the weather in Arizona has also helped alleviate some of these symptoms. This condition has shaped much of his life. On the 15th anniversary of his surgery, he completed his first full marathon in Omaha, Nebraska. He has completed 6 half marathons and several shorter races and is currently training for his next half marathon. He enjoy watching professional wrestling, having been a fan since a child. He has a small collection of wrestling memorabilia. Him and his family are collectors of Disney items and look forward to making regular trips to Disneyland. He also has several artistic/creative interests including resin art, t-shirt design, drawing, and hosting a podcast.
Him and his family have been enjoying their new surroundings, the beautiful scenery, and even the hot weather. They are looking forward to meeting many of the members of New Spirit and those who haven't stepped through our doors yet and continuing this new journey in ministry on which God has called his family.
