Home and Education

Carl Rockrohr was born to Rev. David and Mrs. Jane Rockrohr. He is the eldest son of four Rockrohr boys, Tim, Peter and Dan. After Rev. David Rockrohr’s first call to teach at Concordia College in Portland, OR., the Rockrohr family moved to Milwaukee where Rev. David Rockrohr served as pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church from 1967-1993. David and Jane currently reside in West Bend, WI.

Carl attended Our Redeemer Lutheran Grade School in Wauwatosa, WI, studied at Milwaukee Lutheran High School and completed undergraduate studies at Concordia University Wisconsin. He went on to study for the ministry at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He completed degrees M.Div (1990), S.T.M (1999) and Ph.D. (2008) from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Deborah Rockrohr (David and Carol Roth currently of Jackson, MO) grew up in southern Illinois and south-east Missouri in Cape Girardeau. She and her older and younger brothers, David and Dan, all graduated from St. Paul Lutheran High School and Jr. College of Concordia, Missouri. She completed the Deaconess Program at Concordia University Chicago in 1984. She studied further at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis where she received a Master of Arts in Religion degree in 1986. She and Carl met at the seminary and they were married on May 23rd, 1987.

Past Ministry

Carl has served as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Ch. (Columbia, MO), Faith Lutheran Ch. (Parkston, SD) and Oklahoma Ave. Lutheran Ch. (Milwaukee, WI). He was a evangelistic missionary with LC-MS World Mission in Ghana, West Africa from 1993-98. Most recently Carl has served as Assistant Professor of Religion at Concordia University Ann Arbor from 2005-2011. During his time at Concordia he also served as Chair of the Division of Religion and Philosophy and as Dean of the School of Religious Studies and Social Sciences.

Deborah is called as a LC-MS rostered deaconess and a member of the Concordia Deaconess Conference. This conference is a professional organization of deaconesses of the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod. Deb is also currently studying for her Doctorate of Education Higher Education Leadership and Management through Regent University. She has completed her course work and is currently working on her dissertation. Deborah has served as a deaconess at Concordia Lutheran Ch. (Greenwood, IN), Concordia University Wisconsin, Concordia University Ann Arbor and St. Paul Lutheran Ch. (Farmington Hills, MI).

Work in South Africa

Carl started his current missionary positions as Theological Educator for Lutheran Theological Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa and also as Academic Associate to the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Southern Africa on June 30, 2011. Deborah’s new missionary position is Director for Diaconal Training at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa. Immediate tasks after June 30 are fund-raising for the work in South Africa. Carl, Deb and Ted hope to be in South Africa by January 2012.

Family

Carl and Deb have four children, Paul, Jim, Becky and Ted.

Paul is a first year student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft Wayne  2011-2012 preparing to be a LC-MS ordained pastor.

Jim plans to finish his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Concordia University Wisconsin in December of 2011. He plans to be an officer in the U.S. marines and attended Officer Candidate School of the U.S. Marines in June-July of 2011. Lord willing, he will be offered a commission as an officer in the U.S. Marines once he graduates from college.

In 2011-2012 Becky is a sophomore in the in the Deaconess training program at Concordia University Chicago.

Ted is in 7th grade and attends Concordia Lutheran School in Farmington Hills and Redford, MI. He enjoys soccer, basketball and track. Depending on how long it will be before Carl, Deb and Ted leave for South Africa, Ted will likely continue at Concordia Lutheran School in Fall 2011 and start school in Pretoria, South Africa in January 2012.