Pastor Lisa, or Tiny Rev as her license plate says, is the youngest and shortest of her six
siblings. She was born in Chicago but has lived in many other places, including
Wisconsin, Tennessee, Minnesota and South Dakota, finally landing (for the second
time!) in Florida in 2020. She began her ministry in October of that year at the height of
the COVID pandemic.
She cared for her elderly parents until they both passed away, three months apart, in
2006. Then after taking a year for discernment, she decided to study to become a
minister and received her Master of Divinity degree from Wartburg Theological
Seminary in 2013.
In the last month of the last year of her time at seminary, she met the love of her life,
Bruce Burbank. Two months after their first date they became engaged, and four
months later they married. She says that at their ages, they couldn’t afford to wait!
Pastor Lisa had two main careers before becoming a pastor. First, she was office
manager for a United Way in Janesville, Wisconsin. She also forged a career as a
freelance writer, having had a regular column in the Janesville Gazette as the health
writer for seniors, as well as writing numerous articles on home improvement. She likes
to say she found a way to make gutters and garage doors sound sexy. She is also the
author of two children’s books published by Concordia Publishing’s Arch Books series.
She lives with her partner in life and in ministry, Pastor Bruce, a black cat named Sisko
(named after the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine captain who was African American and
totally cool) and his brother, a ginger named Finn (hey, he is orange, and she figured that
makes him Irish), as well as an obnoxious blue and gold macaw named Beau. Being the
only female in the household, she has learned when to put her tiny foot down on things
that matter.
Her passions are Jesus (champion of those who get overlooked, like women, the short
guy named Zacchaeus and lepers, to name a few), cats, and of course, her husband
Bruce. Oh, and if you really want to get on her good side, ask her about her latest
cruise…