The Rev. David Bracklein was fresh out of divinity school when he was called to serve at Ann Arbor’s Zion Lutheran Church.

Ike was president (and about to be replaced by JFK), the Baby Boom generation was booming and nearly everybody got dressed up to go to church on Sundays.

That was a half-century ago.

This past Sunday, the church where Bracklein began his ordained ministry combined three worship services into one to honor his 50 years of service in the Lutheran Church.

The festivities included a guest sermon by the Rev. Jack E. Eggleston, assistant to the bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), two baptisms, holy communion and a special recognition of Bracklein’s service to Zion and the larger church community. The service was followed by a lunch celebration.

After completing master’s degrees in theology and education in Iowa, Bracklein was called to serve Zion Lutheran as minister of education and youth in May 1960.

The brand-new church building at 1501 W. Liberty St. had just been dedicated, and on his first day, one of the two pastors Bracklein had expected to join announced his departure. So the new pastor hit the ground running, and doesn’t seem to have slowed down since.

The church was somewhat different in those days, Bracklein recalls. It was the Baby Boomer era, when Sunday school classes were bursting at the seams and the church membership climbed to around 3,000.

According to the church’s monthly newsletter, The Tower, Bracklein initiated a Bethel Bible Studies series, enrolling 500 adults, and he trained more than 40 teachers in a period of two years.

There were 700 people in Sunday school at that time with a staff of 115, and he typically recruited 50-70 youth to attend regional Lutheran conventions. His activities in youth and adult education impacted virtually every family in the church, Senior Pastor Barry Ludwig noted.

During his tenure at Zion, Bracklein collaborated with other local ministers to organize the first Washtenaw County CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Walk for Hunger. The program, recently celebrating its 35th anniversary, has grown to include more than 50 congregations and raises more than $50,000 to help with local and global food programs and poverty reduction.

The church, along with Trinity Lutheran Church, also established a supportive relationship with Peace Neighborhood Church, now the Peace Neighborhood Center, that continues today.

In 1977, Bracklein was called to Resurrection Lutheran Church in Saginaw to pastor a small congregation. Under nearly 20 years of his leadership, Resurrection grew from around 300 to 1,200 members through some difficult economic times. He took on several regional and national leadership roles in the Lutheran Church and participated in the formation of the national ELCA in 1988.

Bracklein decided to retire to Ann Arbor with his wife, Helen Rae, in 1995, but his pastoral respite did not last long. In January 1996, Zion Lutheran Church asked him to serve as a visiting pastor.

Bracklein stepped into ministry again and served in various roles for another decade and a half, including two stints as interim senior pastor.

According to Ludwig, Bracklein brought incredible energy, stability and a healing presence through some difficult transitional years. He was able to pull the congregation together during a divisive period and set a platform for the new decade of growth, reinvention and mission outreach in which Zion thrives today.

Today, Bracklein serves as part-time visitation pastor, serving approximately 70-90 members who are homebound, hospitalized or living in retirement facilities. Many of the people he serves were parents of young families during his first “tour of duty” at Zion years ago. He leads of team of caregivers, mostly retired nurses, who take responsibility for specific members to ensure their physical and spiritual needs are met. With this support, Bracklein can provide pastoral services where it is needed most.

Bracklein also teaches two classes per year at Zion: “Where shall I go?” to help members evaluate decisions about assisted living needs, and another course to address end of life issues. When not visiting or teaching, he makes time to cultivate a beautiful garden in his backyard, finding that he “gets his answers” when he works in the soil.

For the time being, Bracklein intends to continue his ministry well beyond the 50-year milestone.

Ludwig said that he has tried to slow him down “to no avail.”

“He is a model of personal strength, character and determination,” Ludwig said.