Rev. Dr. Nathan C.P. Frambach (He/Him)

Doctor of Philosophy
Luther Seminary

Master of Divinity
Trinity Lutheran Seminary

Bachelor of Arts
Lenoir-Rhyne College

Faculty Biography

Born on a farm in rural Medina County, Ohio, Nathan Frambach presently lives in Dubuque, Iowa, with his spouse Diane. They have two young adult sons, Garrett Andrew and Andres Thomas. Nate is a pastor by vocation, presently called to teach at Wartburg Theological Seminary as Professor of Pastoral Theology.

Diane serves as a guidance counselor at Stephen Hempstead High School in Dubuque. Garrett is a 2018 graduate of the University of Iowa and now works with the Catherine McCauley Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, as a communications specialist. Andres has completed two years of college in Winona, MN, with an interest in business analytics.

Nate collects pint glasses and has a prized collection of personal letters from Frederick Buechner. Otherwise he is still a fan of The Office, works on a Mac, paddles a Bell, roots for the STL Cardinals and the Gonzaga Bulldogs, reads Joy Harjo, Wendell Berry, and Mary Oliver among many other poets, and enjoys running on the Heritage Trail.

A pastor by public vocation, Nate served three congregations prior to his time at Wartburg–two in Illinois and one in Minnesota. Most recently (2014) he served as the pastor pro tem at New Hope Lutheran Church in Farley, Iowa, during his last sabbatical. He also served as Associate Director with the Youth Ministries/Gathering team in the Churchwide Offices of the ELCA and, prior to that, as an Instructor on the faculty of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota for two years while he finished a Ph.D. in Practical Theology (congregational studies and leadership). Along with worshipping, learning and teaching with the Wartburg community, Nate continues to cultivate curiosity about emergence Christianity in its various forms and iterations. Nate currently serves on the Arkansas/Oklahoma candidacy committee and the editorial board of the Connect Journal (www.elcaymnet.org). Nate’s philosophy of life* is really quite simple even though it sounds a bit cheesy: work to live, don’t live to work. He pretty much always wishes he were canoe camping in the Boundary Waters (unless it’s the middle of winter, when he doesn’t wish that so much), and he loves good beer.

*find something you love to do, work that matters and makes a positive difference in the world, do it was well as you can, make as much money as you need, and give away as much as you are able.