Rev. Ernie Varga brings to St. Luke’s 32 years of experience. He was ordained at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Somerset, NJ on March 18, 1979, after graduating Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. His first church was St. John’s Lutheran Church (LC-MS) in Stuyvesant, NY.

In 1984 he left St. John’s to pursue a yearlong residency program for Clinical Pastoral Education at Connecticut Valley Hospital, in Middletown, Ct. During this time Rev. Varga entered the US Naval Reserves as a Chaplain. After his residency year he was called as a Pastor to Zion Lutheran Church in Orange Ct. In 1989 he took a position at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington VT. While there he was also a Chaplain for the Vermont Veteran’s Home and Weston Haddan Nursing Home. Then in June 1996 he was Called to Ellis Hospital in Schenectady NY, where he served as Staff Chaplain.

In 2003 Pastor Varga left fulltime ministry to pursue secular work. He was an agent for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and later worked in a Title Company and then finally as a Branch Manager for Trustco Bank in Lee, MA He still had his hand in ministry and served for a while at Love Lutheran Church, East Greenbush, NY. and before coming to St. Luke’s served at Emanuel / St. John’s Lutheran Church in Hudson NY.

In his spare time, Pastor Ernie and his spouse enjoys reading listening to music, Yard Sales , and antiquing. He is married to his husband, Barry Murdock. He has two children from a previous marriage. Kati Corrigan in Norwalk, CT. and Paul Varga from Lake Placid, NY.

Expect a miracle:
Look for a miracle:
Be a miracle:
God Bless