Pastor Michael C. Linderman​ 

(Vice Pastor & Intern Supervisor/Mentor)

Pastor Linderman grew up in Budd Lake, NJ, and graduated from Mt. Olive High School and St. Olaf College. He spent two years in Tanzania, East Africa, as an English teacher, and over two years in India as seminary intern and as a doctoral research student. He has graduate degrees from the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia and Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in South Asia Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

His theological interests include comparative Hindu/Christian religions, interfaith studies and inter-religious dialogue, and Christian Theology of Religions. In his thinking, writing, preaching and teaching, he strives to be a faithful witness to an open and inclusive Christian theology of "being in the world."  

His wife, Johann, is a professor in the Religious Studies Department at Georgian Court University, and they have two children, Mira and Sam. Pastor Linderman plays many musical instruments and enjoys leading contemporary worship at Redeemer and for the New Jersey Synod youth retreats as the pastor advisor to the Synod Youth Band. He teaches one course a semester as an adjunct professor in world religions and comparative religion at Seton Hall University. He enjoys playing music and following English soccer. Since both his wife and he share family connections to Pittsburgh, they are Steelers fans (sorry New York).