2.20: Slow and Patient
Hosts Terri Elton and Louise Johnson welcome Pastors Sarah and Emanuel of St. Andrews church in San Diego, California to expand on their ministries.
Hosts Terri Elton and Louise Johnson welcome Pastors Sarah and Emanuel of St. Andrews church in San Diego, California to expand on their ministries.
Terri Martinson Elton began teaching at Luther Seminary as an adjunct instructor in 2004 before becoming the director of the Center for Children, Youth and Family Ministry in 2008. In addition to her continued work with the Center, Elton accepted the position of associate professor of Children, Youth and Family Ministry in 2010 and associate professor of Leadership in 2014.
Prior to her call to Luther Seminary, Elton served as an associate to the bishop in the Saint Paul Area Synod where her responsibilities included working with congregations, leadership development, First Call theological education and youth and family ministry.
Before her work in the synod, she served at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minn. for 16 years. While at Prince of Peace she worked in various roles within children, youth and family ministries, as well as served as the director of Changing Church Forum, an outreach ministry of Prince of Peace. She also authored To Know, To Live, To Grow, a confirmation curriculum, and co-authored What Really Matters, a book for congregational leaders, with the Rev. Mike Foss.
Elton holds a B.A. degree in communications from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. (1986). She earned both her M.A. (1998) and Ph.D. (2007) degrees in Congregational Mission and Leadership from Luther Seminary.
Elton’s research and teaching interests include: congregational leadership, leading in the midst of change and conflict, helping ministry leaders craft a missional ecclesiology with an eye toward the First Third of Life, awakening a vibrant theology of baptism and vocation and reimagining faith and mission practices for children, youth, young adults and their families.
Elton is a member of the Academy of Religious Leadership, the Association of Youth Ministry Educators, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and the American Society of Missiology and is on the board for Real Resources. Elton spends much of her time working with congregations and congregational leaders and seeks out opportunities for enhancing ministry with those in the First Third of Life within the ELCA.
Pastor Louise N. Johnson serves as the assistant to the presiding bishop/executive for administration of the ELCA. Prior to her work with the ELCA, she served as a director for LEAD, a leadership development nonprofit. Pastor Johnson also served as the fourteenth president of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, where she led the seminary to its largest fundraising and enrollment years in the history of the school. Pastor Johnson has served in a variety of roles at Wartburg, as well as the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She has served congregations as both a pastor and a youth ministry worker. Pastor Johnson is a native of Akron, Ohio, and attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. She earned a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Seminary in 1999. She has a Certificate in Leadership and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She continues to teach, speak and consult in change leadership in church organizations.