Greetings Grace Lutheran Church,
My name is Spence Robertson, son of Kadren Robertson (deceased) and Valencia Robertson (now Bullins). I grew up in a rural area (farmland) on the outskirts of a small town, consisting of three stoplights, called Walnut Cove (my hometown), which is geographically placed north of Winston-Salem (20 minutes), east of Pilot Knob State Park (30 minutes), and south of Hanging Rock State Park (20 minutes). The core of my family (the last three generations) has resided in Stokes County. So, North Carolina is home.
I was taught in the Stokes County Public School System, where I attended London Elementary (fifth grade, with Mr. Marshall, was the best grade), Southeastern Stokes Middle School and South Stokes High School (where I enjoyed playing on the golf team and playing in the band). During such formative years, I would take piano lessons (eventually playing for the First Baptist Church in my hometown) and spend many summers working at Hemlock Golf Course (built by my grandfather, Orell Robertson, and operated by his two sons, Kadren and Keith Robertson).
Throughout my schooling (ever since I was in the sixth grade), I wanted to teach music (particularly band). So, I attended Pfeiffer University (in Misenheimer, NC), where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music. However, midway through my studies, having completed all the credits to become a public-school teacher, I decided to pursue a different path - church music. With a shift in career, I went south, and attended Samford University (in Birmingham, AL), where I completed a Master of Music in Church Music.
From there, I moved back to North Carolina and became Director of Music at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, NC, Director of the Catawba Valley Community Chorus in Conover, NC, and Adjunct Professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, where I taught Handbell Ensemble, Hymnody and Aural Skills, played in the Wind Ensemble, and sang in the A Cappella Choir. During such time, I also taught piano lessons and served on the Western Piedmont Symphony Board.
Over the last ten years, while busy about the joy of music making, I would also be on the journey of discernment, contemplating call to ministry. After years of conversation with peers, professors, and mentors, and much, much prayer, I enrolled at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, where, for the last two years have culminated in my upcoming arrival to serve alongside you as vicar/intern, and to continue discerning call as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Here are a few more “smattering” of words to describe who you will be receiving in August: I enjoy all things music: choral, piano, organ, band, theatre, and musicals; I enjoy a round of golf, a good game of Chinese checkers or classic board game; being with family. I am an introvert, a keeper of routine, a minimalist in living. Sadly, I have minimal culinary skills, but happily enjoy supporting the local economy (mom and pop eateries). Some would say that I have a touch of the OCD (so, pay me no mind if I feel the need to straighten up things here and there). I like to keep life simple and calm. In terms of business, I prefer all matters to be clear and concise. I am cold natured, so it may very well be the scene that I will be wearing thermals eleven months out of the year.
As I have heard over the years, and I am sure you will soon come to agree, I am an eighty-year-old man trapped in a “young-in’s” body (an old soul of sorts), who, in a previous life was perhaps some form of 20th century mountain teacher, a 19th century train conductor, an 18th century civil servant, a 17th century merchant chandler, and a 16th century cantor monk who pitied that Augustinian monk named Luther.
I could keep on writing, but I’ll stop here, hopefully this will give us plenty to talk about over lunch or dinner. In the meantime, till we meet at 3333 feet above sea level, grace and peace to you.
~ Vicar Spence
