Don Ludwig

Associate Pastor for Family Life

Image of Don Ludwig

Don joined the staff at Southminster in May 2006. Currently, he oversees Family Life, Youth, and Children’s ministries.  Recently, however, he served as the Interim Pastor from December 2019 through May 2021, leading the church through unprecedented times.  Under Don’s leadership and guidance, Southminster has become a Matthew 25 congregation.  Don also serves on the Committee on Representation for the Presbytery of the Cascades which seeks to mobilize equitable and inclusive practices in churches statewide.

He attended Princeton Theological Seminary and Rutgers University where he obtained both the MDiv and MSW degree in four years.  For Don, ministry and social work are one and the same. In his words, “We are called to ministries of equity and justice that create a Beloved Community wherever we find ourselves”. He has worked many years as a Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP) in the Philadelphia and Portland metro areas, mostly serving at-risk youth and families in various capacities. He attended Portland State University and earned his Ph.D. in Social Research in 2009.  Currently, Don is a tenured Professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice at Clark College in Vancouver, WA, where he also serves as both the Sociology Department Chair and Behavioral Sciences Division Chair.

Over the years at Southminster Don has built an intentional intergenerational ministry for adults, youth, and children and strengthened our church’s connection to families, mission, and each other. Don has led mission trips for youth and adults to Cuba (twice), Alaska (twice), New Mexico, San Francisco, Wapato, Washington (twice), and Spokane (seven times).  For Don, “God exists in the community and is revealed as we work toward social justice in all ways and all things.”