Career
He served as a pastor in both Finland and Australia. He preached and ministered in Swedish, English, and Finnish during his career as a minister. Because of this, he could not in good conscience continue as a minister.
At the same time he ceased to be a Lutheran.
Although he left the church because he could not reconcile his beliefs with church teachings, he also left the church because of what he saw as shabby treatment at the hands of the church hierarchy. Despite that he stopped believing in the Christian faith, he never stopped believing in God.
Foreign six years, he and his family had no formal religion. He describes this as a religious "no man"s land." He recalls that he had "no holidays to celebrate, and not even a calendar to follow."
The first answer from the Orthodox Jewish establishment was “no,” as is required according to conversion laws.
But he would not take “no” for an answer.
Eventually the leaders relented, and all were converted. The family retained the name “Brunell.”
The entire family now lives in Israel. At least two of the daughters are now married (in a proper Jewish marriage) He now has a grandson, Daniel – Jewish by birth – who was born in December 2006.
