Our Staff and Council

Our Staff and Council

Meet our team.

Our Staff and Council - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church
Pastor Martha Schwehn Bardwell - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Pastor Martha Schwehn Bardwell

Lead Pastor
(she/her)
612-871-2967 option 3
martha@oursavioursmpls.org

Pastor Martha Schwehn Bardwell (she/her) was called as Lead Pastor in 2022 after serving for several years as Associate Pastor. Pastor Martha brings great energy and imagination to her ministry and loves cultivating intergenerational, inclusive, participatory community with others at Our Saviour’s, in the neighborhood, and beyond. She has been known to sing, dance and do spoken word in her sermons and children’s messages in a way that draws others into the drama of God-with-us.

Pastor Martha holds an MDiv from Luther Seminary, an Executive Leadership Certificate from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Before that, she worked as a staff member at a drop-in center for people experiencing housing insecurity, as a recruiter for a social justice-focused volunteer program (Lutheran Volunteer Corps), and as a summer lead cook at Holden Village,
a Lutheran retreat center and year-round community in the Cascade mountains. In her free time, she likes to read, tend her fermentation experiments, garden, play guitar, and sing.
Martha and her husband Sam live in North Minneapolis with their kids, Naomi and Will.
Esther Sianipar - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Esther Sianipar

Pastor of Community Care
(she/her)
612-871-2967 option 4
The congregation has joyfully called Esther Sianipar to serve as our Pastor of Community Care. Esther grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, and has lived in Ohio, Arizona, and now Minnesota.  Esther graduated from Wittenberg University Springfield Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and her master’s in international studies at Ohio University, Athens Ohio. She has worked as the Outreach Coordinator for Southeast Asian Studies at Arizona State University.  When she lived in Indonesia, her work was in government affairs, nonprofit organizations, and corporate and public policies in Indonesia. Although her passion was to give people access to information, skills, and basic needs to live, her heart was not full until she came to Minnesota to pursue God’s calling to begin her full faith journey to study for her MDiv degree and to become an ELCA Pastor here in the Twin Cities. Esther moved to Minnesota in 2018 from Indonesia with her teenage son, Jonathan Sitorus. During her academic journey at Luther Seminary, Esther served as a student representative to the Seminary’s Board of Directors meetings. She was elected the first International Student Council President in 2021-2022. She also served in various positions on the council, chapel, Seminary Relations, and Admissions. When she was the council president, she led a robust student movement for the Seminary to be a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) institution and managed to present students’ voices at the Board of Directors meeting. Esther graduated from Luther Seminary in 2022 with her MDiv and is currently finishing her Master of Theology (ThM) at Luther Seminary. She looks forward to listening and fostering relationships and doing pastoral and community care especially to those who are vulnerable, elderly, poor, marginalized, and who experience injustice and inequity. She will be leading our community care ministries centered on the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering with Shobi’s Table a hunger justice ministry in St. Paul, going for early morning walks, and cooking with her son!
Alyssa Schwitzer and Kent Goodroad - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Alyssa Schwitzer and Kent Goodroad

Worship and Music Directors
612-871-2967 option 6

alyssa@oursavioursmpls.org

kent@oursavioursmpls.org

Alyssa Schwitzer (she/her)

Alyssa is a Minneapolis-based vocalist, recording artist, composer, worship leader, educator, and voice teacher/coach working with individuals, churches, schools, and organizations locally and nationally. As a vocalist, she has taken up residencies in cities such as New York City and Boston; having the opportunity to perform for organizations such as Minnesota Public Radio, American Composers Forum, Thrivent Financial, Ravinia Festival, among others. Alyssa has a passion for empowering youth through music and maintains an active performing and teaching career in the Twin Cities. Alyssa lives in Minneapolis with her partner, Elizabeth, and their two children, Remi and Selah.

Kent Goodroad (he/him)

Kent is a performer, composer, and music educator both locally (Minneapolis) and nationally. He has performed and composed for Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), members of the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Composer’s Forum, among others. Kent maintains an active performing and teaching career in the Twin Cities and is a member of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association. Kent lives in North Minneapolis with his spouse, Irene, and their dog Mimi.

 

Together, Alyssa and Kent have served as Co-Directors of Worship and Music at Redeemer Lutheran Church in N. Minneapolis, Music Directors for the ELCA MYLE, ELCA MYLE at the Youth Gathering, ELCA Extravaganza, the Minneapolis Area Synod Choir, and various other ELCA related events and worship services. Alyssa and Kent are also the co-founders of both LK-Arts Academy and Music Is Wellness — programs designed to provide accessible music education aimed at building skills in music and social-emotional wellness.

 

Marcin Cienski - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Marcin Cienski

Office Manager
612-871-2967 option 7
marcin@oursavioursmpls.org

Marcin Cienski is born and raised in Poland. After spending 5 years in Philadelphia, moved to Minnesota in early 2018. The lure of a better quality of life, the great arts and culture scene, the progressive and accepting environment, the parks, the nature and the seasons (including winter) made the Twin Cities the perfect new home. He is a trained painter with his own studio and a successful career exhibiting his works with multiple galleries in Europe. He is excited to support the members of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, to advance its mission and promote the many programs that make this congregation so wonderful and blessed and bring the teachings of Jesus to the Ventura Village neighborhood and the wider community.

He is responsible for keeping the church office humming, keeping OSLC’s presence visible in the community through the website and social media, producing the monthly newsletter The Sentinel and assisting with the publication of the weekly worship folder.

Marcin lives in Northeast Minneapolis with his husband Alex, his mother and their two transplanted pups…Bodie- a Lab/ Collie mix from New Jersey and Mala, a Dachshund/Corgi mix from Poland.

Jakob Johnson - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Jakob Johnson

Live Stream Technician

jakob.johnson330@gmail.com

Jakob Johnson is a 4th generation member of Our Saviour’s – starting in 1936 when his Great Grandma and Grandpa joined.  Jakob is a Dec 2021 Graduate of the University of Minnesota and an avid fan of Gophers sports, especially Gopher Men’s hockey.  He also spends time visiting local breweries, playing golf, and following the St Louis Cardinals, Vikings, Wild and many Gopher teams.  Jakob is on the OSLC Foundation and attends the Men’s Breakfast.  Jakob is excited to be doing the live stream so that those who can’t make it to church in person have the opportunity to experience our worship service at home.  He also does most Adult Forums on Zoom.

Sophia Stout - Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

Sophia Stout

Nursery Director

sstout244@gmail.com

My name is Sophia and I am very excited to be the Nursery Director! I grew up attending Our Saviour’s and have had much joy spending my Sunday mornings learning from our community. I am also currently teaching middle school social studies 6-8 at Friendship Academy of the Arts here in Minneapolis. In my free time I also enjoy hanging out with my friends and family and making new crafts that I hope to finish one day. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer in the nursery, you can contact me or talk to me after church!

Council

Samantha Heaton, President
Paula Keller, Vice President
Tal Anderson, Treasurer
Julie Abrahamson, Secretary
Kristie Hennig and Bruce Pederson, sharing a seat as Worship, Music and Arts Table Representative
Benhi !Khabeb, Outreach Table Representative
Mike Troutman, MCFF Representative
Jim Erickson, Member at Large
Karna Ivory, Member at Large
Anna Hepsø, Member at Large
Pastor Martha Bardwell
Pastor Esther Sianipar