Duane and Pamela Voorman were seeking a change.

Duane, the pastor of a Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Neb., was seeking a new direction for his ministry. His wife, Pamela, a deaconess with the Lutheran synod, was looking for a place to use her skills to help others.

Their search led them to Concordia Lutheran Ministry.

“God led us here, we truly believe that in our heart of hearts,” Duane said.

After nearly 30 years at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Duane was ready for a change, and Pamela, who recently completed training to become a deaconess, wanted to fulfill a long-held goal.

“I have just always loved working with the elderly,” she said.

A deaconess is a woman theologically trained to share the Gospel through teaching. Pamela also does visitations.

Duane is a chaplain for the Good Samaritan hospice and Pamela is a deaconess, working at the Concordia facilities in Jefferson Township, Cranberry and Franklin Park.

Concordia Lutheran Ministries, a nonprofit and faith-based senior health care system, has 13 facilities in Western Pennsylvania.

The pair began working in December and were installed in their new positions Jan. 8.

For the Voormans, it's more than just a job.

“It's really a miracle that God opened the door for us to serve at the same place at the same time,” said Pamela.

Although they are on the same campus only once a week, they do work with some of the same clients.

“It's wonderful to share the same kind of ministry,” said Pamela. “We share what we did and who we saw and we understand what's going on in each other's lives.”

Duane said, although the couple never divulge the names of who they worked with due to privacy issues, a description by Pamela can call up the picture of a particular client.

Pamela said she loves hearing the stories the Concordia residents tell about their lives.

“It's fascinating what they've been through and seen and experienced,” she said. “They had the same challenges we all have, raising kids, living with a budget, time management.”

“Pam and I have always worked well together,” Duane said.

She worked alongside Duane at the Lincoln church, serving a “deaconess-type role.”

When their youngest child, Katie, headed off to college, Pamela started to take online classes through the Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The Voormans met in college and married in 1980.

Her husband's first pastoral position was in what Pamela Voorman calls “a little tiny town in Nebraska.” From there the family moved to Ohio and then back to Nebraska, finally settling at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lincoln.

She was born and raised in Chicago, and Duane grew up near Detroit, so the couple have always had a desire to live near the East Coast.

“A dream came true for us to live in Pennsylvania,” said Pamela.

The move also got them closer to two of their children, who live in Washington, DC.

Pastor Jack Hartman, head of the Concordia chaplaining department, said the Voormans are a “definite asset” to the ministry.

“They're truly a blessing for us,” he said. “We're looking forward to a great relationship.”

He said the organization was interviewing Pamela for a deaconess position when they heard her husband was a pastor.

“We were looking for a deaconess,” he recalled. “After the interview, we said, 'Wouldn't it be nice if we could hire him, too?'”