Alumni/ae News

Updated November 17, 2009

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The 0s - back to the top

Stephanie Swanson, '99, and Charles Swanson, '07, welcomed daughter Sadie Alice Swanson on September 17th.  (submitted 11/17/2009)

The 00s - back to the top

Ingelaurie Lisher, '06, married Bruce C. Sadler on Saturday, November 8th 2008 at St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows, Tacoma WA.  (submitted 6/11/2009)   Scott Block, '06, recently had his book "From Death to Life: We have this sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" published by Wipf and Stock Publishers in Oregon. The book is available for purchase from them and can also be purchased at Amazon.  (submitted 10/19/2009)   Sue Kiester-Grinde, '05, and Dave Grinde are proud to announce the finalization of the adoption of their daughter Hannah Mary Elizabeth Grinde on April 13, 2009.  Hannah was born on March 11, 2008 at 29 weeks. Sue is in her second call at Salem Lutheran Church, Salem, SD.  (submitted 6/10/2009)   Annie (Janzen) Haverlah, '05, and Stephen Haverlah, '08, welcomed a baby boy, Andrew Mark Haverlah, who was born April 9, 2009, in Abilene, Kansas.  (submitted 5/14/2009)   Troy Troftgruben, '03, of Park River, North Dakota, received the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Princeton Theological Seminary on May 23, 2009.  (submitted 6/11/2009)   Coral Rose, '02, has joined the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod World Mission team and will be sent to Pretoria, South Africa to serve as regional business manager.  Her duties will include traveling throughout the continent of Africa and supporting the work of missionaries, partner churches and mission projects, especially in Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. For more information on the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod World Missions, visit www.lcmsworldmission.org.  (submitted 7/31/2009)   Jason Bazzle, '02, has been appointed Director of Music at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Summerville, S.C. He formerly served seven years as Director of Music at Bethel United Methodist Church in Walterboro, S.C.  (submitted 11/4/2009)   Jeannine Brown, '02, has been elected to The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) and will immediately join the ongoing translation work of the CBT, including their work on the previously announced update of the New International Version (NIV) Bible, slated for publication in 2011. Dr. Jeannine Brown is Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. She received a Master of Divinity from Bethel and her Ph.D. from Luther Seminary. She has written several articles and a book on hermeneutics.  (submitted 11/9/2009)   Chris Enstad, '00, welcomed their second daughter, Berit Elizabeth, on Dec. 9, 2007.  Chris also published an article entitled "A Primer on the Emerging Church" in the Easter 2009 issue of Lutheran Forum.  (submitted 6/9/2009)   Emily Helin Olson, '00, is serving as the Music Director in a new church start with the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ.  Her husband, Bryan, is a 2005 Master of Divinity graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and was called in December 2008 to pastor a new young adult-focused church community outside of Philadelphia.  Emily and Bryan were married in April 2007 in Cottage Grove, Minn., and formerly served together at Cottage Grove United Church of Christ.  (submitted 6/25/2009)   John Jahr, '00, has been appointed choral music director of the West Central Singers in Willmar, Minn.  He currently serves as director of worship and music at Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar, where he directs several choirs and serves as organist.  (submitted 9/14/2009)

The 80s - back to the top

Tom Schlotterback, '87, has been appointed as Director of Vocation and Church Leadership at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Rev. Schlotterback previously served congregations in Fremont and Omaha, Neb. He most recently has served as senior pastor of King of Glory Lutheran Church, Billings, Mont., and as a member of Concordia's Board of Regents. He is married to Sarah E. (Swanson), a music teacher and director of music and worship at King of Glory Lutheran Church. They have five children. Rev. Schlotterback will assist Concordia in its mission to be a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, exploring emerging creative partnerships with synodical and churchwide expressions of the ELCA. He will begin his work in January, 2010.  (submitted 9/28/2009)   Dana Nissen, '83, was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Foundation. His dissertation was titled Luther and the Turks: The Turkish Threat to Europe and the Sermons of Martin Luther. Dana is rostered in the Mpls. Area Synod and teaches Humanities and Philosophy at the Art Institutes of Minnesota and Argosy University.  (submitted 8/18/2009)

The 70s - back to the top

Ronald F. Marshall, '75, had his sermon on Genesis 22, "Take the Test," published at Lutheran Forum Online.  (submitted 6/22/2009)   Susan Hedahl, '75, Professor of Homiletics has been awarded the Herman G. Stuempfle Chair of Proclamation of the Word at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. The conferral ceremony is on October 13, 2009.  (submitted 6/23/2009)   Ronald F. Marshall, '75, published his article, "Driven by God: Kierkegaard's Parable of the Royal Coachman" in Toward the Final Crossroads: Festschrift for Edna Hong and Howard Hong, Mercer University Press, edited by Jamie Lorentzen.  (submitted 10/28/2009)   David Aaker, '73, is the co-author, with Jan Nelson of the recently published second edition (2009) of The Bereavement Ministry Program - A Guide for Churches.  The book was first published in 1998.  The book is published by Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.  (submitted 6/9/2009)

The 60s - back to the top

Gerald C. "Jeb" Monge, '69, has had his book: A Spiritual Memoir (Reflections on Mark) published by Publish America, Frederick, MD and released on July 11th.  (submitted 6/11/2009)   Thomas Wilkens, '61, and Betty Wilkens, professor emeritus of theology at Texas Lutheran University, and his daughter Kim have recently published a book titled "Un-American Activities: Countercultural Themes in Christianity." The book's subtitle, "A modern father and a postmodern daughter reflect on their pilgrimages of life and faith," highlights an important dimension of their collaborative work. Tom currently resides with his wife Betty, a former nurse and childbirth educator who wrote the book's Foreword and Afterword, in Georgetown, Texas. Kim lives with her husband and their son in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she serves as a technology consultant and teacher, an Emerging Church advocate, and a community activist. Her brother Nick, the director of an ecumenical counseling center, did some preliminary editing of the book; he lives with his family in San Antonio, Texas.  (submitted 8/29/2009)