Alum
News
1946
Paul Olm-Stoelting received the 2007 Distinguished
Alum Award on April 24, 2007, and celebrated his 85th birthday
the same year.
1947
Vernon Jaberg celebrated 60 years in ministry
on September 30, 2007, having served churches in Nebraska, Iowa,
and Wisconsin. He is retired and lives in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
1957
Jerry Schrankler celebrated 50 years in ministry
in the fall of 2007 during which he served churches in Marinette,
Manitowoc, Columbus, and Fond du Lac, Wis. He is currently a pastor
of Our Saviour’s United Church of Christ and an annuitant
visitor for the Pension Board, and he is active with youth for Rotary
and Job’s Daughters.
1962
Bob Miller retired from the First Congregational
Church in Moline, Ill., in 2003. However, he continues as
chaplain for the Moline Police Department and is the interim pastor
at St. Peter’s Evangelical United Church of Christ in Kewanee,
Ill.
1966
Lloyd Rediger’s book Clergy
Killers (Westminster John Knox Press) has gone into its 8th
printing and is a key reference for the Canadian Clergy Union in
its efforts to establish a viable working condition for the average
pastor. His latest published book is The Toxic Congregation:
How to Heal the Soul of Your Church.
1977
Ronald Meyer was installed as pastor and teacher
at The Congregational United Church of Christ in Rochester, Minn.,
in January. He was formerly the senior pastor at Parkway
United Church of Christ in Minneapolis.
1979
Mentor “Duke” Addicks leads
the Maori Night Prayer ceremony from the Maori/Anglican New Zealand
Prayer Book on Monday evenings at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church,
St. Paul, Minn. For more information, visit www.stmatthewsmn.org/worship/nightprayer.dsp.
1982
Peg Chemberlin, executive director of the
Minnesota Council of Churches, was elected president-elect of the
National Council of Churches in November 2007. Go to www.mnchurches.org for
more information.
1984
Mark Schowalter’s book, From
Eagle To Chicken And Back, a spiritual self-help guide to daily
living through scripture, humor, and short stories, is in the process
of being published.
David Bard, senior pastor at First United Methodist
Church of Duluth, Minn., has been endorsed for the episcopacy (as
a candidate for bishop) by the General and Jurisdictional Conference
delegation of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist
Church. For more information, go to www.minnesotaumc.org.
1989
Andrea Stoeckel was covenanted as a sustained
interim minister with First Congregational United Church of Christ
in Fulton, N.Y., part of the Oneida Association of the New York Conference.
Andrea and her partner Rebekah, director of the local library,
live north of Fulton with their two dogs, Chao Sing and Toby.
1991
Nancy Horvath-Zurn graduated with a D.Min. from
Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla., last May. She
is the pastor of Healing Spirit Metropolitan Community Church in
Rochester, Minn.
Raymond Robinson was awarded a 2007 Distinguished
Service Award and named Chaplain of the Year by The Military Chaplains
Association.
1992
Carol Shaffer is the chaplain at Seasons Hospice
in Rochester, Minn.; however, she serves people in their homes,
in assisted living and nursing home facilities, in adult foster
care homes, and in the hospice house. She helps people get in touch
with their spiritual resources and can be reached at rev.carol.shaffer@gmail.com.
1995
Sheila Apland-Ottenbacher was honored at the
2007 annual meeting of the United Church of Christ State Conference
for her 10 years of ordained ministry. She is the pastor
of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbia, S.D.
1997
Linda Koelman, pastor of North United Methodist
Church in Minneapolis, is a chaplain with the Minneapolis Police
Department. She was one of the early responders to the I-35W bridge
collapse and, as a chaplain, she consoled and supported the families
of the victims of the tragedy. On February 12, Linda was one of
four recipients of the Bridge Award from the Minneapolis Police
Department.
2003
Joe Mairara started his master of arts studies
in the fall of 2006 at Queens Foundation for Ecumenical Studies
in Birmingham, Fiji.
Patricia Dorsey Nanoff has revised her D.Min.
thesis into a book to be published shortly by Hawthorn Press.
The book is entitled Rising from the Dead: Stories of Women’s
Spiritual Journeys to Sobriety; the book liners are
written by James B. Nelson, emeritus professor of Christian ethics
at United. Pat is associate professor in theology and applied
medical ethics at the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minn.
Bob Malles is volunteer chaplain at the Hennepin
County Home School, a correctional facility for youth who are in
serious legal trouble. He is also employed full-time by Catholic
Charities at the Glenwood Residence, a “wet house” for
late-stage chronic alcoholics, and is finishing his M.Div. at
United.
Garth Schumacher is associate minister at Union
United Church of Christ in Elk River, Minn.
Matthew Bersagel-Braley is working on his Ph.D.
in ethics at Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
2004
Cynthia Prosek directs the music program at Minnetonka
United Methodist Church. She recently conducted the church
choir with orchestra in a concert featuring Vivaldi’s Gloria.
Christine Pulver is director of the Basic Needs
Program with Keystone Community Services, which operates three
food shelves in Ramsey County, Minn., serving more than 4,000 people
each month.
2005
Dean Seal is a part-time adjunct instructor at
Augsburg College in Minneapolis, does marketing and outreach
for Pangea World Theater, and is executive director for Spirit
in the House. In addition, he is the drama minister at Northeast
Lutheran Church in NE Minneapolis. Dean lives in the Twin Cities.
Kiely Todd Roska is executive
director for the Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive
Choice.
Linda Sanderman is serving as a lay elder at
Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Portland, Ore., where she
is involved in new member integration, leadership development,
church-wide communication, and planning.
2006
M.J. Anderson is director of music at Brooklyn
Center United Methodist Church, where he has developed a powerful
music program comprised of contemporary, traditional, and African-based
music.
Pam Wynn teaches poetry, expository, and liturgical
writing at United and a creative writing workshop for community
education. She completed a libretto for the opera Ruth in
collaboration with composer Barbara J. Rogers. The opera, based
on the book of Ruth in the Older Testament, premieres
at Northwestern College, St. Paul, Minn., this spring. Pam is also
in the process of completing her next book of poetry, Luminous
Thin Strands, as well as a memoir, Jairus’s Daughter:
Spiritual Reflections on Learning to Love.
Arthur Treadwell began the joint Ph.D. program
between Iliff and the University of Denver in the fall of 2007.
His areas of competency are African American Church, Black and
Womanist Theologies, and Non-Profit Management.
2007
Lisa Dodd was appointed to Prairie United Methodist
Church, Eden Prairie, Minn., as associate pastor.
Shirley Johnson Koepsell was ordained to the
Ministry of Word and Sacrament at Mayflower Community Congregational
Church, Minneapolis, Minn., in January 2008.
Recent Alum Deaths
Rev. Howard Beer, 1948
Rev. Dr. George Behrens, 1951
Rev. Frederick P. Bretsch, 1961
Rev. Charles E. Fix, 1953, 1972
Rev. Roger D. Grow, 1950
Rev. Milton Laib, 1945
Rev. Donald F. Lehman, 1953
Rev. Robert Middleton, 1964
Rev. Robert Paulson, 1972
Rev. Walter Rickard, 1914
Rev. Louis C. Riesch, 1949
Rev. Gordon Robinson, 1938
Rev. Karl Schiltz, 1981
Rev. Richard Stelter, 1977
Rev. Lyle W. Stork, 1968
Dr. Reinhard Ulrich, 1953
Rev. Brenda Yeager, 1981
We offer the families and friends of all of these alums our
deep sympathy and prayers, along with our great appreciation for their
vital ministries. |