Rev. Dr. Lynn Bergfalk has pastored Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church since 2000. He is a graduate of Yale University Divinity School and received his Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary. He served churches in Iowa and Nebraska before coming to DC in 1987 as the Senior Minister of Calvary Baptist Church, a historic downtown Washington congregation. He also is the founder and president of City Gate, an urban ministry providing out-of-school time programs for low income children in under served neighborhoods in DC and Maryland.

Over the years Pastor Lynn’s ministry has had a focus both on local and international needs and relationships, making him ideally suited to lead WABC and its diverse congregation. He has helped start a Burmese congregation and Latino fellowship, worked with refugee resettlement, and been engaged with the Baptist World Alliance. He expresses a biblical vision of justice and compassion through practical programs of community ministry, including involving individuals and faith communities in volunteer service. He is a past president of the DC Baptist Convention, served on the board of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and has been actively engaged in many varied community organizations, programs, and projects throughout his ministry.

Pastor Lynn believes the Christian life is characterized by service, combining a vibrant and growing personal faith with action and advocacy. He believes the body of Christ – especially in a world often fractured by boundaries of color, class, and culture – should be the kind of community which demonstrates the power of love to overcome the barriers that divide us. Believing in the power of God’s love to transform lives, families, and circumstances, he encourages our faith community to celebrate life, live every day in hope and with grace, and to respond with compassion to the needs of our world.

He and his wife Sue grew up, met, and married in Minnesota. They have four adult children and ten grandchildren.