{"id":7851,"date":"2024-05-21T15:35:30","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T15:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=7851"},"modified":"2025-08-13T20:34:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:34:18","slug":"summer-2024-alumni-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2024\/05\/21\/summer-2024-alumni-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The listings in this publication include notifications received by January 31. Submit your own alumni news at luthersem.edu\/alumni<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1950s<\/h2>\n
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Norman<\/strong> Olsen<\/strong> \u201959<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> died on December 20, 2023. He served congregations in Minnesota and wrote prayers, worship materials, and hymns, including \u201cWhen Seed Falls on Good Soil,\u201d which is published in hymnals in the United States, Canada, and Japan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1960s<\/h2>\n
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Paul Peterson \u201960 M.Div. <\/strong>died on January 17. He served congregations in Iowa before accepting the position of program director for WCAL radio in 1966. He was made general manager in 1974 and retired in 1999<\/div>\n
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Ernest Caltvedt \u201961 M.Div.<\/strong> died on October 9, 2023. He served parishes in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Minnesota, and Iowa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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James Stenslie \u201961 M.Div. <\/strong>died on September 23, 2023. He served full-time pastoral calls in North Dakota parishes until 1991, when he began working as a chaplain, first at North Dakota State Penitentiary and then in a nursing home, before retiring in 1999.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Glenn<\/strong> Anderson<\/strong> \u201962<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> died on December 20, 2023. He served congregations in Minnesota. In 1979, he founded a construction company, G.M.\u2019s New Creations, building log and conventional homes as well as creating church art that can be seen across the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Allen<\/strong> Wahl<\/strong> \u201963<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> died on January 16. He served parishes in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1970s<\/h2>\n
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Dean<\/strong> Johnson<\/strong> \u201973<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> retired from his position of pastor at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar, Minnesota, and was named pastor emeritus on December 10, 2023. During his 50 years at Calvary, he served on the Willmar City Council, in the Minnesota House of Representatives, in the Minnesota State Senate, on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, and as a chaplain in the Minnesota Army National Guard. He was a full-time pastor for eight years and half-time for the remaining 42 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gerald Melby \u201973 Th.M. <\/strong>died on December 26, 2023. He served many congregations in Minnesota and Iowa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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John Trom \u201977 M.Div. <\/strong>died on January 24. He served churches in Minnesota and South Dakota.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1980s<\/h2>\n
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Robert Stroud \u201981 M.Div. <\/strong>recently contributed a chapter to \u201cTheology and Star Trek\u201d (Rowman & Littlefield 2023). His years as a U.S. Air Force chaplain informed \u201cStarfleet\u2019s AWOL Chaplain: Why Star Trek\u2019s Federation Lacks Chaplains.\u201d The writing of the chapter is described on his blog, Mere Inkling, in \u201cAn Interstellar Accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jack<\/strong> Reents \u201982<\/strong> D.Min.<\/strong> died on October 14, 2023. He served in the United States and in overseas churches with the ELCA Global Mission Programs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lynne<\/strong> Silva-Breen<\/strong> \u201983<\/strong> M.Div. <\/strong>will retire from her full-time counseling practice on June 1, 2024, exactly 40 years after her ordination in 1984. She spent 20 years in parish ministry in northern Wisconsin and the Twin Cities before pursuing an M.A. in marriage and family therapy at Argosy University\u2013 Twin Cities. She has been in private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist for 18 years. She looks forward to a much slower work pace as a clinical supervisor and consulting therapist, as well as tackling her growing retirement plan, including new writing projects and reading at least a portion of every book she owns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bradley<\/strong> Jenson<\/strong> \u201984<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> is the co-author, with Michael Fuchs, University of Wisconsin\u2013Superior, of \u201cBach\u2019s St. John Passion for the Twenty-First Century: Musical and Theological Perspectives,\u201d with a foreword by internationally renowned Bach scholar Christoph Wolff. The book was published by Rowman & Littlefield.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rusty<\/strong> Edwards<\/strong> \u201985<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> was the executive producer of \u201cHow Love Begins\u201d by Nicole Zuraitis, which won the 2024 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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St. Mark\u2019s Lutheran Church in Aurora, Illinois, welcomed Paul Kopka \u201986 M.Div. <\/strong>as full-time interim associate pastor on October 22, 2023. Kopka has served as an associate pastor for 15 years, most recently at Good Shepherd Lutheran in Naperville, Illinois. After earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in religion and religious studies from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and a master\u2019s in pastoral and theological training from Luther Seminary, Kopka was ordained a pastor in 1986.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paul Opsahl \u201986 M.Div. <\/strong>died on August 26, 2023. He had served most recently at Community Lutheran Church in Sterling, Virginia, prior to his retirement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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John<\/strong> Voelker<\/strong> \u201988<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> teaches full time at the University of P\u00e9cs in the southern part of Hungary. This large university was founded in 1367. Voelker has done research and published over the last two decades with their Center for Early Christian Studies. Besides his full load of classes, he was a guest lecturer at the historic Jesuit University of Olomouc in the Czech Republic at the beginning of second semester. The culmination was a lecture on Plotinus, Neoplatonism, and Early Nicene-trinitarian theology given to the theology and philosophy faculties of the university.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2010s<\/h2>\n
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Chuck Hoffman \u201911 M.A.<\/strong> and his spouse, Peg, created a world prayer canvas for the 2023 Lutheran World Federation Conference in Krakow, Poland. The canvas is 11 feet in diameter and reflects the folk culture of Poland. They also have been offering workshops called Creative Day Away and have had several churches come to their studio for creative inspiration, community, and art making.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2020s<\/h2>\n
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Cory Driver \u201921 M.Div. <\/strong>is the director of the Center for LIFE (Leading the Integration of Faith and Entrepreneurship) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nancy Ross \u201922 M.A.<\/strong> serves as chair of the interdisciplinary department at the newly renamed Utah Tech University (formerly Dixie State University). Her literature review on the history and sociology of women\u2019s ordination, which started as an M.A. capstone project, was published with the Journal of Wesley and Methodist Studies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jess<\/strong> Gulseth<\/strong> \u201923<\/strong> M.Div.<\/strong> was recently named executive director of Park River Bible Camp in Park River, North Dakota. Gulseth holds a bachelor of science degree in broadcast journalism from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She is currently in candidacy to be ordained as a deacon in the ELCA. Gulseth has served St. Mark Lutheran Church in West Des Moines, Iowa, since 2018, most recently as the director of discipleship. She has also served on staff at Living Waters Lutheran Church in Fargo and as the hospitality director at Red Willow Bible Camp.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read more from Summer 2024<\/h2>\n