About Us
Mount Cross Interim Pastor
Pastor Lance Kittleson is a retired ELCA Pastor living in Pine, Arizona. He is an ‘Army Brat’ graduating in 1969 from High School in Fayetteville, NC and later from North Carolina State University in 1973 with a major in History.
Commissioned an Army Second Lieutenant from ROTC, he was stationed in Germany during the Cold War. Upon leaving active duty, Pastor Kittleson attended Seminary in Boston, MA and St. Paul, MN being ordained in the American Lutheran Church in 1981. He and his family’s first call was as missionaries to Muslims in Senegal, West Africa.
Returning to the United States in 1983, he and Gail began rural and small-town Parish ministry in Iowa and Oregon eventually retiring in 2021 after 40 years of ordained ministry. He previously served as interim pastor at Mount Cross in 2023-2024 and since then helped the local Presbyterian, Methodist. Episcopal and Mount Cross as a Supply Pastor.
He was mobilized and deployed twice to Iraq as an Army Reserve Chaplain with a unit from Des Moines, Iowa. Following his final oversea deployment 2011, Chaplain Kittleson retired from the military with 34 years of service. His mediations on Army life in Kuwait and Iraq became a book in 2004 entitled “Meditations from Iraq. A Chaplain’s Ministry in the Middle East.”
Pastor Kittleson is the son of a decorated World War II, Vietnam and Special Forces veteran. He bas been married for 48 years to his Iowa farm girl spouse, Gail (nee’ Cutler), who is a published author of more than 14 books, mostly women’s historical fiction. Together they have two grown children living in Iowa and Switzerland and three grandchildren located currently in Arizona, Wisconsin and Argentina.
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Mount Cross offers a variety of opportunities for spiritual growth through bible studies, music, fellowship, and service to others. Please see the Chronicle newsletter and the monthly Calendar for more offerings, specific dates, times and locations. We invite you to join us in any of these that may be of interest to you. If you don't see what you're looking for, just ask, as we're always open to new and interesting ideas. Click the button below to learn more and see us in action!
Thank You
Whether you help through monetary donations, volunteering your time, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, thank you. We couldn't accomplish our goals without the help of supporters like you.