LARNED — “If you want something done, ask a busy person,” or so the saying goes. Jacqueline Thornton, a former restaurant owner, EMT and judge, knew she couldn’t do everything. It was only after she retired from her position as a district magistrate judge in Osborne County and moved to Larned that she felt she really had time to volunteer at her church.

Maybe that’s why Thornton, 72, followed up her retirement by attending a theological seminary and preparing for ministry in the Lutheran Church.

Early years

Thornton was born in Denver, Colorado, but grew up in Atchison, Kansas. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, majoring in American Studies and African Studies.

Her choice of major came from wanting to learn something new.

“Generally, the first year in college, if you’ve had a good high school background, it’s just a review, and you’re going over the same things you’ve already learned and you’re bored,” she said. “Black Studies, as it was called then, was just beginning to be offered. It had never been taught, never been included in our history lessons in high school, or our literature. It was brand new and it was fresh and it was amazing. Of course, in the ’60s, when I grew up, we went through the Civil Rights movement. So race relations and civil rights were a burning issue.”

Moving west

Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of jobs in her field of study after graduation. That’s what brought her to western Kansas.

“A friend in Osborne told several of us about an opportunity to buy a restaurant and private club. So four of us came out and started the Koffee Kup Kafe.”

In Osborne, she met her future husband and had a daughter and a son.

She also had part-time jobs with the Osborne County Sheriff’s Office, as an EMT driving a rescue truck, and as a city judge.

“The nice thing about a small town is it has all of the needs a big town does, but it can’t afford people doing them full-time. So you do lots of different things part-time,” Thornton said.

After that, she served as a district magistrate judge for 20 years until she retired in 2013. After leaving the bench she moved to Larned, now home to her daughter Jann Boucher and Thornton’s 15-year-old granddaughter.

Decision to attend seminary

Thornton grew up in the Lutheran Church but had not done much volunteer work there in the past.

“I had always been too busy to be active in church,” she said. “When I retired, I thought, ‘now’s the time.’ I had an opportunity to be active.” 

She joined Trinity Lutheran Church in Great Bend about the same time that Jon Brudvig and his wife Barb Jones came there to serve as pastors.

“I started doing Vacation Bible School with my granddaughter, and then I was asked to teach the kids, so then I started teaching a class, and I lectored and I ushered.

“Of course, like any volunteer, the more I did the more you get asked to do. Finally the pastors were asking me if I would lead worship when they were gone. I had an opportunity to write a sermon, and I was kind of hooked after that,” she said.

“And unbeknownst to me, my pastor gave my name to one of his professors and asked the professor to contact me about going into seminary.”

Thornton received her MDiv (Masters of Divinity) from Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, on May 15, 2022.

“They have an absolutely amazing distance learning program,” she said. “We had to be on-campus for the first week of each semester, so that we could form a sense of community and meet our professors. And then after that it was all Zoom.”

She did her internship at two yoked congregations, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wilson and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Lucas, from June 2020 to June 2021.

Waiting for a call

It’s still too early to call her the Rev. Jacqueline Thornton. 

“The master's degree program at seminary consists of two years of academic studies followed by one year of internship (on-the-job training) and then one more year of academics,” Thornton explained. “While doing my internship, my correct title was Vicar. I will not be a Reverend until I am ordained, which happens after I am called by a church to be their pastor.” For now, she is doing interviews with open churches and “waiting for a call.”

Brudvig now lives in eastern Kansas and Thornton now attends St. Mark Lutheran Church, which is also located in Great Bend and is part of the ELCA — Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But she still keeps in touch with Brudvig, who commented on her recent accomplishments.

“I am so excited for Jacqueline,” Brudvig said. “She possesses many gifts for ministry, but I have always been impressed with Jacqueline’s ability to meet people where they are and love them unconditionally. She will make an outstanding pastor.”

At St. Mark, Pastor Adam Wutka now relies on Thornton to handle worship when he has to be gone.

“I first got to know Jacque several years ago as she was completing her work toward a lay ministry certificate, even while she had already begun the candidacy process toward ordination in the ELCA,” Wutka said. “I later had the privilege of serving as Jacque’s internship supervisor in 2020-2021 and she has led worship at St. Mark here in Great Bend a few times when I have been out of town. Jacque is a gifted teacher and preacher with a welcoming presence as a worship leader. She is passionate about matters of social justice, responsible stewardship, and raising people up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“It has been a joy and blessing to know and work with Jacque over the years and I welcome her as a colleague in congregational ministry.”

Other interests

Part of Thornton’s spiritual practices includes posting Bible lessons from the ELCA on the internet. Lessons can be found on Facebook at #jacquethornton.

She is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and a lifetime member of the VFW National Home for Children, which assists military families with children. She’s also a “lifetime alumni of KU.”

For those who aren’t Jayhawk fans, Thornton adds, “Kansas is blessed to have so many good educational institutions. My daughter went to K-State and Fort Hays; my son went to Concordia.”

Her hobbies include playing word games on her phone, collecting antique clocks, and reading. A favorite author is James Patterson, but she also reads “a lot of theological stuff.”