Staff & Leadership

Church Council and Lay Leadership

We recognize the gifts and talents in our community and encourage our members to actively participate in ways that nurture their gifts and feed their spiritual life and uplift the mission and ministry of this congregation. Some of the opportunities for leadership in our church are listed below.

  • Church Council
  • Staff Support Committee
  • Worship Committee
  • Tender’s of the Fire
  • WELCA (Women of the ELCA)
  • Men’s Group
  • Specialized task forces

Pastoral Staff

Pastor Sally Ankerfelt and Pastor Dan Ankerfelt completed their ministry with MCLC on June 30, 2020. Our interim, Pastor Lee Hallstrom will begin on July 16, 2020. Information here will be updated as he begins in interim ministry.

Pastoral Ministries page explains more about what the pastors do at Minnehaha Communion Lutheran Church.

Parish Nurse & Deacon

Sue Arens, R.N, M.A., Deacon

Ministry Includes:

  • Health-related activities
  • Home visits and hospital visits
  • Word and Service Deacon applications: worship organizers for lay Sundays and copyright guru
  • Coordinate Prayer and Healing Ministries
  • Synod Obligations

Learn more about our Parish Nurse Ministries

Sue has been with MCLC since 2006. She graduated from Luther Northwestern Seminary in 1992, and was commissioned as an Associate in Ministry (now called Deacons) that same year.  She strongly believes that health and spirituality are intricately woven together, and that true healing occurs when the entire person – body, mind, and spirit – is tended to.  Sue and her husband Dick are parents of an adult daughter, and grandparents of the world’s cutest twins!  She is an avid knitter, who enjoys “making string pretty!”

 

 

 

Minister of Word and Service

Kaye Mills, M.A.

Ministry Focus:

  • Advocate for risk-taking and innovative service on the frontiers of the church’s outreach
  • Develop and nurture relationships in the community
  • Participate in public advocacy
  • Discern, equip, and activate the baptized to serve in areas of ministry where God is calling

Kaye is a graduate of Luther Seminary receiving an M.A. in Christian Ministry and is approved for the Word and Service Roster in the ELCA through the Minneapolis Area Synod, and is awaiting a call (hopefully at MCLC). She is a candidate in the Deaconess Community of the ELCA. What she loves most about MCLC is that it has a feel of a small town church in an urban area where the Gospel of Jesus is preached with love and conviction. Kaye loves to sing, indulges in pop culture TV, and enjoys exploring ways of creating in community settings.

Worship Music Leader

Richard Duncan

Ministry Includes:

  • Encouraging communal singing through excellence in accompaniment on organ and piano during worship
  • Collaborating with the pastors in selecting music for worship
  • Offering music for contemplation as we purposefully dwell in the presence of each other and God during worship

Richard is passionate about the role music plays in our spiritual and congregational life. Music is a personal expression of his own faith and a way to encourage other people in sharing their spiritual gifts.

Secretary

Roberta Edstrom

Ministry Includes:

  • Providing hospitality to all who come through the doors or contact our church
  • Creating bulletins for funerals, weddings, and other special rituals
  • Preparing our weekly bulletins and our monthly newsletter called the Illuminator
  • Coordinating building use and office management

Roberta retired in 2015 from a 37-year Financial Analyst career with the Federal Government. She enjoys spending time with her family, going “up north” to the cabin, gardening and various crafts. What she enjoys most about working at MCLC is the people.