After 7 1/2 years, the Rev. Jay Dahlvang says he still enjoys worshiping with the members of Salem Lutheran Church.

“I’ve almost always left here feeling better than when I came,” said Dahlvang, who will preach for his last time Sunday at the Albert Lea church. A farewell open house is planned from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, with a program at 1 p.m. The public is welcome.

He has accepted a call from Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Mankato, a church of about 1,500 members. He starts his new position on Oct. 13.

“It’s a new challenge, a different opportunity,” Dahlvang said. “The word I keep getting is ‘potential.’”

Dahlvang said he will miss the 600 members of Salem.

“They’ve been very good to us,” Dahlvang said. “We get invited into their joys and sorrows. It’s a sacred trust. One day we’re holding babies and the next we’re visiting someone who is dying.

“We see them at their struggles and at their best,” he said of church members.

Dahlvang was the pastor when the church membership decided to add a new front entrance and gathering space, becoming handicap accessible. “I think it gave them a real sense of ‘we can do things,’” he said of the project.

Still, it’s hard to leave.

“We realize these are not our churches. They’re God’s churches. We get to be a part of that for a while,” he said.

Dahlvang said he will miss the people and the friendships he and his family have formed not only in the church, but the community as well.

“Albert Lea’s a great community,” he said. “The schools have been very good to us, and I think it’s a more contented community than it was when we came here 7 1/2 years ago.”

Dahlvang and his wife, Tammy, have two sons, ages 9 and 11.

While the family is moving to Mankato, the Rev. Tammy Dahlvang plans to continue to serve both Lunder and Round Prairie Lutheran churches as their pastor, commuting a few days each week and on Sundays.

Dahlvang said Salem will get an interim pastor within a month, then begin the call process for a new pastor.