Bringing the Light of Christ to all Creation

Ministers

People of Morning Star

Pastoral and Lay Staff

— Brings a broad range of pastoral and leadership talents from congregations in Inver Grove Heights, MN; Scandia, MN, Rush City, MN, and Bloomfield, NE before accepting the Call to Lead Pastor of Morning Star.  His theological training includes Northwestern Theological Seminary (now Luther Theological Seminary) in St. Paul.  He served internship as a chaplain at City of Memphis (TN) hospitals, Memphis, TN.  He is married with three children.  His wife, Teresa, is a physical therapist and operates her own MFR Therapy clinic "BodyWise Therapy" in Omaha.  Their three children are: Anna, a civil engineer, who lives with her husband Jed Padilla in Tallahassee, FL, Sarah who lives in Minneapolis, MN and works as paraprofessional/mentor in a local school system, and Paul, who is in his last year of study at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

is Managing Secretary at Morning Star.  She graduated from Metro with degrees in photography, secretarial science and accounting.  Through her career she has worked in many different fields from retail to banking but her favorite work has been with the church.  Prior to Morning Star she was Office Manager at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church for 13 years.  She has been a member at Mt. View Presbyterian Church since she was an infant.

She has one son, Christopher, who graduated last spring from Creighton Prep and is now a freshman at Dana College in Blair.  He is very proficient at flute, piccolo, acting and writing and a newly found talent of singing.  He is planning to major in English.  Pam enjoys quilting, cross stitch, scrapbooking, games (video and board) and spending evenings home with her four cats, two birds and a turtle — or in northern Minnesota.  She is also a huge movie buff, have you checked out her desk?

is the Director of Morning Star Preschool/Child Care.  She has been a loving parent and educator for over 30 years.  She decided to become an educator in an early childcare environment so that she could nourish children to learn and grow.  Since she has a strong background in the arts, her favorite method of teaching is a “hand’s on creative approach”.

Susan received her BASA from UNO and CGA from Metro Community College.  She is proudest of her three daughters Elizabeth Richling-Sampson, Jessica Richling and Kate Richling and her granddaughter Isabel Sampson.  Susan is a nationally recognized textile artist, and Morning Star is a proud owner of her “Bible Quilt” which has appeared in several publications.

grew up in Omaha, then went to college at the University of Wyoming where she earned a Bachelors in Elementary Education.  She taught 2nd and 3rd grade in California for 2 years.  She decided to move back to family in 1998 after 8 years away.  Anita and her husband, Bret, joined Morning Star in 1999 when they got married.  Anita started working for Morning Star in 2000 as an office helper and became the secretary in 2001.  In 2005, Anita turned in her secretary hat to be the Coordinator of Child & Family Christian Education so she could spend more time at home with their 3 children, at that time, now 4 children.  Anita enjoys working with all the children of the church and helping with their faith development.

is our Junior and Senior High Youth Minister.  Josh began working with youth while attending Augustana College in Sioux Falls where he was a member of the Augustana Covenant lock-in team as well as a reading tutor for Augie Reads.  He just finished up a summer working as a camp counselor at Camp Carol Joy Holling.  Josh also has a background in media, having worked for his college’s radio station for four years.  He almost always has some sort of music playing in the background.  His summer office hours are Mondays and Thursdays 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Our music staff is multi-talented and eager to help you praise the Lord with song and Voice!

Bev McCollum is Morning Star's very talented and dedicated primary organist.  Besides accompanying the Adult Choir, many soloists, and assorted small groups, she also continues to direct the Bell Choir.

She has spent many years as a church musician and as a teacher in the public schools.  She has taught at the elementary, jr. high, sr. high schools and college levels.  She acquired a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, a Master of Music Degree in organ from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and worked two years on a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Church Music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.  Her major has always been the organ.  Bev has also taught in Scotland and Australia, and served as church organist in a Lutheran church while in Australia.  Bev’s most relaxing moments are when she is playing that wonderful instrument, the Martin Ott pipe organ at Morning Star and reflecting on the beautiful stained glass window above the organ.

Brian Priesman is the Director of Children’s Choirs.  Brian is a part of our adult choir and has several connections to Morning Star.  Brian grew up in Omaha and as a child was very involved in the children’s choir at his congregation, his Mom was the director.  Brian has a degree from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, CA.  He studied musical theater and educational theater.  He is currently employed by the Omaha Children’s Museum.

Standing Committees

The Web Site

Our website is the door, according to Pastor Tom, through which all current “new members” browse before joining Morning Star.  If you lead, or are involved in a group here at the church, please consider submitting material about your group or function for the website.  We all know the opportunities for submissions to the Light or Little Light.  Do we know that the website is a resource for churchgoers in our information age?

We can get announcements for upcoming activities from the Little Light and Light admissions.  However, we are looking for material to post on the “permanent” pages like the “For You” page.  We will plan to use this material to renovate the website.  Please, also let us know about any other comments you have regarding the site and its usefulness.  You may submit material to the church office, 393-5553, by mail or by using the Web Servant e-mail link at the bottom of this page.

If you cannot use the above e-mail links:  Please note that we are trying to protect our staff from spammers who scan web sites for e-mail addresses.  To do this our "e-mail" links are designed to be visible to you but not to spammer's "web crawlers".  If you use web-based e-mail or for some other reason the e-mail links behind staff member names do not work for you, you may right-click, copy the mail-to link (or "shortcut") and paste the it into your e-mail program or web page.  You will need to edit the link to pick out the address.  Your e-mail should reach us properly.  If you have comments, please use the Web Servant e-mail link at the bottom of this page or compose a message to "WebHelp" at our domain name, Morning Star Lutheran (all one word) dot com.

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Last modified: March 15, 2008