Ernie Loreen is a native of Washington State having been raised in Bellingham and receiving his B.A. from Western Washington University .  He subsequently attended the Bible Institute in Seattle before graduating from the Lutheran Seminary in Rock Island Illinois in 1959. He married Lola Samuelson in 1950, the daughter of a Point Roberts pioneer Icelandic family.  Lola and Ernie raised a family of six children.

After graduation Ernie was a pastor in Vancouver and in Creston BC for eleven years.  In 1971 he settled with his family on the Samuelson family property in Point Roberts.  At that time Trinity Church did not have a pastor - instead the pastor from neighboring Tsawwassen BC led services during the summers.  Ernie and Lola took on the responsibility of reviving Trinity to its present size.  For over twenty years, until his retirement in 1998, Ernie led the growth of the parish to its present size. He now serves as Pastor Emeritus and works his family farm with the help of his large extended family.