Meet our leaders

I’m Pastor Bryan and I am excited to be the Mission Developer and Pastor for Peace and Hope, a community for faith and worship where people across geographic boundaries can gather to hear and share the good news of Jesus Christ!

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I discerned God’s call to ministry by imagining ways that the church can serve the world beyond physical church meeting spaces and so when the opportunity presented itself to lead a digital ministry, I realized that the Holy Spirit was at work and felt called to lead this exciting opportunity.

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I grew up in Haymarket, Virginia and my faith and formative years were spent as an active participant at Haymarket Baptist Church. I am an alum of Virginia Tech in Civil Engineering (Go Hokies!) and have been a Professor in Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech since 2007, currently as an Associate Professor of Practice.  In addition, I am the President of a small family-owned consulting firm, Toxcel.

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My wife, Katie, and I were married in 2006.  Katie introduced me to Lutheranism, the ELCA, and Lutheridge (a Lutheran Camp in Arden, North Carolina), where Katie was a camper, camp counselor, and senior staff member.  From then on, I was hooked!

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I currently also serve as the Pastor at New Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Blacksburg. I previously served as the Campus Minister for Lutheran Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech (The Well) and continues to serve in a Synod Leadership role as the Synodical Coordinator for Campus Ministry. Before coming to New Mt. Zion as their Pastor, I previously served as the Vicar at both Shiloh and New Mt. Zion Lutheran Churches in Blacksburg and served as an intern at St. Philip Lutheran Church in Roanoke.

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I completed my Master’s of Arts in Religion and Pastoral Ministry Certificate at the Institute of Lutheran Theology and I completed coursework through Luther Seminary, all through distance learning. The digital world is definitely not new to me!

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My wife, Katie, is a Professor in the School of Nursing at Radford University.  Katie and I are blessed with two children, Emily and Ethan.

Hi everyone! I am so excited to be a part of this team to reinvent the idea of church beyond the walls of a building. 

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I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and spent most of my childhood “church-hopping” looking for the right church for my family. It was difficult to find due to our busy schedules. So, when Pastor Bryan approached me about a new idea for “church,” I was beyond excited.  

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I am currently a student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia studying Psychology and Spanish. I am thankful to have found a wonderful church community over the past couple years through my campus ministry, The Well,  and the camp where I work, Caroline Furnace. After I finish undergrad, I hope to attend grad school and am looking to serve as a bilingual clinical psychologist. 

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I have served in various leadership positions throughout my campus ministry, camp, young adult ministries, and more, and I am so excited to serve as a new leader in this new church experience. 

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I cannot wait to get to know you all, and I hope y’all are as excited for this community as I am! 

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I have one of the greatest jobs in the world! Day after day, I get to tell the story of God's love for all people and share in my community at Calvary Lutheran Church and across the country with the Calvary Partner Network. I get to share life with you! Throughout my career I have always found myself most happy when I'm working with people—from my first job as a paperboy, to working in camping ministry and church youth ministry, to work in sales at Microsoft. I love and am fascinated with people. Eventually, that love for people led me to follow a pesky, persistent (and often annoying) call to attend seminary.

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Graduate studies at Luther Seminary in St. Paul allowed me time to explore deeply the story of God's love for all people found in the bible, and offered me opportunities to broaden my sense of the diversity of God's people through travel to places like Guatemala and Germany. Before joining Calvary Lutheran Church in 2012, I served for 6 years as the Associate Pastor at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church in St. Paul, MN.  I love sharing life with my family and good friends, especially around bonfires in our backyard. I love to travel, garden, the outdoors, reading, camping, and good conversation over a beverage of your choice.

Hi! I’m a Pastor with the Calvary Partner Network and Calvary Lutheran Church's Executive Pastor. In my role at Calvary, I get to explore how Calvary cares for people both in and outside of church and how people can develop and grow their faith.  I’m married to the most awesome guy, Ryan, and the mom of four brilliant people, Chase, Mackenzie, Sawyer, and Skyler. I’ve served in the church in various roles for twenty years.  This has allowed me far more experiences than I could possibly imagine and continues to surprise me. I’ve taught theology at Grand View University, started an after school program for inner city kids, partnered with mission organizations and traveled to  Ghana to start a vocational school for young women, spoken at large group gatherings, led groups all over the country for disaster relief, and sat with people during some of their most intimate, difficult times. I’m constantly surprised by the work of the Holy Spirit as I seek to be faithful and inspire belief and pour out grace upon others.

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It was to my great surprise when Calvary called me while I was living in Des Moines and asked me to consider moving to Alexandria, Minnesota. I’m excited to be part of this community. My favorite things include spending time with my family, traveling, creating stained glass, and napping!

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A quality worship experience requires great musicians. Peace and Hope's partnership with the Calvary Partner Network allows us to provide the outstanding musical talents of great musicians who lead worship for Calvary Church in Alexandria, Minnesota.