Susan Leigh Brooks is a lifelong literacy educator with a passion for learning and teaching. After more than three decades of teaching reading and writing to learners from preschool age to graduate students, she currently serves as the Associate Director of Faith+Lead Academy. She creates online courses to encourage and equip people in their faith….
Stephanie Luedtke is a minister, educator, and artist. She often combines the three, weaving education and arts through her ministry or ministry into arts education. Stephanie is a rostered Pastor in the ELCA with 25 years of experience in ministry of various sorts, and holds a Master’s Degree in Worship Arts. She enjoys helping people…
Rev. Mike Ward, CFRE is the fourth partner in the 44-year history of GSB Fundraising. Mike began his relationship with the firm as a client while serving as VP of Advancement for NovusWay Ministries in Arden, NC. Prior to his work at NovusWay, Mike was a parish pastor during two congregational capital campaigns. As a…
Jeff is the manager of Clinical Pastor Education at Fairview Health Services. He has worked in chaplaincy and spiritual care education since 2014, and has served in both acute care and senior living contexts. He is ordained in the American Baptist Churches, USA, and received his MDiv from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Jeff…
Rev. Dr. Steve Thomason’s passion and purpose intersect in the areas of theology, spiritual formation, and art. Mixing a lifelong love of drawing, illustrating, and animating with degrees from Wheaton College, Bethel Seminary, and Luther Seminary, Steve has done everything from owning and operating his own art studio to pastoring an 8,000 member congregation. In…
Michael Beck is Director of Re-Missioning for Fresh Expressions US and Cultivator of Fresh Expressions for the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Michael serves as co-pastor of Wildwood UMC with his wife Jill, where they direct addiction recovery programs, a jail ministry, a food pantry, an interracial unity movement, and a network of…
Rev. Dr. Kathryn Skoglund is a retired ELCA pastor. With MDiv and DMin degrees from Luther Seminary, she has served God and the church in a variety of ways. Skoglund worked as an interim pastor for Eglesia Luterana Paz y Esperanza, and as a pastor for Trinity Lutheran, St. John’s Lutheran. She also served as…
Rev. Dr. Hollie Holt-Woehl holds a Ph.D. in Pastoral Care and Counseling, with an emphasis on the congregation. Her dissertation, “Congregations as Trinitarian Communities: Accepting, Welcoming, and Supporting People with Chronic Mental Illness,” explores congregations welcoming people with mental illness into congregation life. Ordained in 1993 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), she…
Rebecca Guengerich is the Director of Spirituality and Wellness at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas. She provides spiritual formation programs and caring ministry for the congregation. Rebecca is an educator and works as a teacher, as a community educator for the March of Dimes, and as a Spiritual Director in…
From Keith Zeh’s baptism at the age of 12 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Holy Spirit has been stirring in his life. He has been in many different roles over the course of his ministry career. Zeh started as an Associate Pastor at Calvary Lutheran Church in Bemidji, Minnesota, and later…
Michele is no stranger to grief after losing both of her parents and most recently her husband to terminal illnesses. With more than 25 years of experience in the areas of pastoral care counseling, support group facilitation, leadership training, and development and rehabilitation counseling, Michele values supporting others as they journey through the unique challenges…
Dr. Michael Chan joined the Concordia College community in June 2022. Before that, he was an associate professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. He joined Luther Seminary after completing his Ph.D. at Emory University and a year of research and teaching at the University of Helsinki. As the executive director…
Michael Binder is an assistant professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. His teaching focuses on starting new congregations, leading change, and practicing Christian witness and evangelism amidst secular cultures. Binder is a founding pastor of Mill City Church in northeast Minneapolis and continues to serve there. He has…
Rev. Melissa Cooper is an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Prior to serving at St. Luke’s, Melissa served as Program Coordinator for the Life Enrichment Center and Warren Willis Camp. Before receiving her MTS in 2009, Melissa earned a B.A. in English from Middle Tennessee State University. She is originally from Tennessee, but…
Mark Tranvik is a parish pastor at heart. He spent almost ten years (1984-93) as a pastor at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. It was a rich experience, full of struggle and joy. While teaching about the Reformation or a theological topic, he pays attention to what is happening in the…
