God Signs & Dad Stories

Paula Pettis is a classical flutist who lives in Minnesota. She has been a member of Christ the King Lutheran Church in New Brighton, MN, since she was born. She holds a Master of Music degree in Flute Performance, and a Major in Mathematics, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She enjoys traveling the world, and wants to be just like her dad.


Pastor Veryle Henriksen attended a one-room schoolhouse in rural Iowa. After finishing high school in Clear Lake, IA, he majored in history and religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. He entered the Navy during the Korean Police Action, and then returned to the family farm in Iowa. While working on the farm he had a near death experience which was his call to ministry. He left the farm to attend Luther Seminary, in St. Paul, MN and was ordained on May 26, 1959. He was a chaplain in the Navy, on both active and inactive service, from 1959-1980, based out of both Florida and Maryland. He then served in the Marines in North Carolina, followed by two years of service as the Naval Base Chaplain in Iceland, and then spent three years in Rhode Island. He and his wife then moved around Minnesota to minister as he was called. First they spent seven years at a church in Hoffman, which was followed by ministry at the State Hospital in Fergus Falls, and then served as the Visitation Pastor for Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Mounds View, and First Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights. Pastor Henriksen is currently the Visitation Pastor for Christ the King Lutheran Church in New Brighton, MN. He and his wife have three daughters and one son, ten grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.