Megadeth bassist will be a Lutheran pastor?

Megadeth bassist will be a Lutheran pastor?

David Ellefson, bass player in Megadeth, is an online student in the Specific Ministry Program at Concordia Seminary operated by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

The curious mix of rock and religion has been part of Ellefson's life since childhood. Growing up in Minnesota, his family drove from their farm to Our Savior's Lutheran Church each Sunday. Ellefson, now 47, was confirmed there at age 16. A few years later, in the summer of 1983, Ellefson moved to Los Angeles and within a week of his arrival had formed Megadeth, soon to bacome a stapke in the thrash meyal scene.
The rock star lifestyle caught up with Ellefson by the time he was 25. He entered a 12-step recovery program and was reintroduced to his faith. And he embraced it. Ellefson moved to Arizona, married and had children. He joined Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation in Scottsdale.

More than 100 students are enrolled in the distance learning program, director David Wollenburg said. The program is open only to those who have been sponsored by someone already working in the ministry. Megadeth remains and the band will begin a new tour with Motorhead next week in New Jersey. Ellefson will tend to his studies during down time on the tour bus. He knows it won't be easy.
Classes begin each Monday, though homework is posted a few days earlier. On Tuesday nights, Ellefson and eight other students sit in online for a two-hour live session with a professor teaching from a Concordia classroom. Once a week he meets with Bjorgaard to discuss the week's work. And late in the week, he uploads homework for the professor to grade.

He has learned to keep his faith and his onstage persona separate. As for songwriting, he now tries to `stay away from darker themes".
"Some people want to morph things together into one, but I have a hand in both worlds," he said. "I love praise and worship music, and I love heavy metal".

Contenuto non disponibile