UPDATE, Monday, July 15, 2024:

Our congregational vote on July 13-14 to call Pastor Makayla Dahleen as our Pastor of Family Life was unanimously affirmative. Pastor Dahleen has expressed her excitement at joining the St. Philip the Deacon family.

Thank you to all of the people who were involved with this search and call process—Pastor Schmid and Pastor Strand Patterson, our Executive Team, our Council, led by Congregational President Heather Larson, and all of our faithful and talented staff.

Thanks also to the entire membership of St. Philip the Deacon for making St. Philip the Deacon such a healthy, vital and vibrant congregation. We celebrate this health, which allows us to attract high quality candidates when we have openings in our staff, and also allows us to fill these openings quickly and efficiently.

Pastor Dahleen will be finishing up her call to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sterling, Illinois over the next few weeks, and will be moving up to Plymouth in late August with her husband Jacob and their six-month-old son, Simon. Her first weekend in worship will be Saturday, Sept. 7, and Sunday, Sept. 8, and she will be formally installed as our Pastor of Family Life during all services on the weekend of Sept. 14 and 15.

Please continue to keep Pastor Makayla and her family in your prayers as she makes this transition, and keep our congregation in your prayers as we move into this next and exciting chapter of our life together.

______

June 20, 2024

Dear Friends of St. Philip the Deacon,

I am delighted to report that the St. Philip the Deacon Church Council and Executive Team have unanimously recommended Pastor Makayla Dahleen to join us as our next pastor.

To ratify this recommendation, a rolling special congregational meeting will be held at the conclusion of all worship services on the weekend of July 13 and July 14.

Pastor Dahleen is a native of a small town in Wisconsin, attended Luther College in Iowa, and completed graduate training for ministry at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She is married to Jacob, and they have a young son, Simon, who is six months old.

For the past four years, Pastor Dahleen has served as solo pastor of St. Paul Lutheran in Sterling, Illinois. Before that, she served as a pastoral intern at a large Lutheran church outside of Denver—where they are still using curriculum created by her. She also has experience with camping ministries, a prison ministry, and a small black congregation on the south side of Chicago.

“The search process for our next pastor has been thoughtful and thorough and faithful,” said Council President Heather Larson. “After conversations and interviews with a number of outstanding candidates, Makayla quickly rose to the top. She was able to spend a few days with our entire staff and Executive Team in early June, and during that visit we all recognized that there was a wonderful fit between her and St. Philip the Deacon. I am thrilled that she will be joining our already exceptionally gifted team of pastors and staff.”

“After my visit in early June, it became abundantly clear to me that the Holy Spirit was calling me to St. Philip the Deacon,” Pastor Dahleen said. “I am so excited for our family to join the SPD family, and I look forward to where God is leading us as we walk in faith together.”

Like all pastors at St. Philip the Deacon, Pastor Dahleen will preach, teach, lead worship, conduct baptisms and weddings and funerals, and provide pastoral care. As Pastor of Family Life, her particular area of emphasis will be to help us to build on and expand our children and family ministries.

As part of our larger strategy with the call of Pastor Dahleen, we will also be expanding and enriching our adult education offerings through the creation of a new Director of Adult Education role. Look for more news about that addition to our staff in July.

As I have said many times over the last few months, I have never been more excited about our future at St. Philip the Deacon than I am right now. I am delighted that Makayla will be joining our gifted and talented and faithful team of pastors and staff, and I celebrate all of the ways God will continue to use this incredible congregation to reflect his light and love to a world in need.

With Hope and Promise,

Tim Westermeyer
Senior Pastor

UPDATE: Be sure to enjoy Celina’s recital at the final event in our Summer Organ Concert Series, Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 12:15 p.m. in the sanctuary. Celina will play selections from Bach, Duruflé, and her own arrangements and preludes. Enjoy a reception following the program to meet and welcome Celina to SPD!

Dear Friends of St. Philip the Deacon,

I am delighted to announce that, following a nationwide search, Celina Kobetitsch will join the St. Philip the Deacon family as our next organist. She will officially begin her role in mid-July, and will play for her first worship services in August.

A native of the Chicago area, Kobetitsch has been studying piano since she was three years old. She has received multiple prestigious honors, including awards from the U.S. Fulbright program and the DAAD postgraduate music program. In 2022, she was awarded first prize at the Fugato Organ Competition in Bad Homburg, as well as the Ruth and Paul Manz Organ Scholarship from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. A gifted teacher, she received the Carol Nott Prize for Excellence in Piano Pedagogy at age 21.

Kobetitsch is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studied piano and organ. She completed an artist diploma at the Conservatoire de Toulouse, and earned her master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik Leipzig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, where she studied organ performance and improvisation. In addition to organ and piano performance, Kobetitsch is a talented composer who writes her own hymn reharmonizations, introductions, and chorale preludes. You can hear one example of this on her YouTube channel, where you can also find many other recordings.

Most recently, Kobetitsch has served as the Associate Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has also served as organist for Bethany English Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio and as interim organist at Bay Presbyterian Church.

“I am thrilled to be joining the SPD family,” said Celina. “This congregation has a well-deserved reputation for outstanding music, and I am delighted to be partnering with Sam Grace and all of the other musicians here to ensure that this strong tradition continues.”

In addition to announcing Celina Kobetitsch as our new organist, I am also delighted to announce that Steve Griffiths, our long-time substitute organist, will officially become our Associate Organist. A gifted and talented organist and pianist, Steve’s long and deep ties to St. Philip the Deacon have made him an important strategic thought partner as we continue to envision the future of music here at the church. We are thrilled to have him serve once again as a formal part of our music team.

“Music is an essential part of who we are,” said Sam Grace, our Director of Music. “That is true for us both as Lutherans in general, and more specifically as members of St. Philip the Deacon. We have been blessed with a long and lasting legacy of exceptional music here, and I have every confidence that Celina and Steve will not only continue this tradition, but will help us to expand and build on it. I am delighted to welcome both of them to our team of outstanding musicians.”

I join in Sam’s excitement, and look forward to welcoming Celina to the St. Philip the Deacon family. Stay tuned for more news about when you can hear her for the first time, and please join us in giving her a warm welcome when you do meet her.

Blessings,

Tim Westermeyer
Senior Pastor

All summer long, we are inviting our community to pray specifically for creation, our country, and the world. As we pray together, our united prayers have the power to draw us closer as a community.

Download PDF

You are welcome to pray in your own way, but we also offer these prayers to be repeated each day/week/month (choose your own rhythm).

The rhythm here invites you to pause for prayer three times a day, focusing each prayer pause on one of the petitions. These prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW).

Morning Prayer
Stewardship of Natural Resources (ELW pg. 80)

For God’s creation… Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us coworkers in your creation. Give us wisdom and reverence to use the resources of nature so that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Midday Prayer
Time of Conflict, Crisis, Disaster (ELW pg. 76)

For our country… God, our refuge and strength, you have bound us together in a common life. In all our conflicts, help us to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, to listen for your voice amid competing claims, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Evening Prayer
A Prayer for the Human Family (ELW pg. 79)

For the whole world… O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son. Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and, through our struggle and confusion, work to accomplish your purposes on earth; so that, in your good time, every people and nation may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

As announced in April, St. Philip the Deacon’s current organist, Kraig Windschitl, will be moving to another position at the end of July, 2024. The congregation is therefore currently seeking applications for our next Organist. A job description can be found here (PDF).

If you are interested in applying for this position, we ask that you submit the following materials by 5 p.m. CT on Friday, May 17, 2024:

• A cover letter expressing a desire to apply for this position
• A CV or resume
• Two or three recordings by you, including both a representative prelude or postlude, as well as a hymn of your choice
• List of references
• Written responses to the following questions, which are designed to give you a better sense of this role, and to give us a better sense of how your gifts and abilities might be a good match for it. Feel free to include examples from your own experience as part of your responses, and please limit responses to 500 words or less for each question.

• • • 1. Describe your philosophy of church music.
      2. In this position, you will be part of a Lutheran church, with a liturgical tradition of worship. Among other things, this means that our worship life has a shape and pattern—both in our weekly services, and throughout the seasons of the church year. It also means that our worship life is participatory—that the congregation is invited to be involved in our services, rather than to be simply mute or passive observers. How would your gifts support this approach to our worship life?
      3. In this position, you will be part of a large staff, and will need to work collaboratively with our pastoral team, with our Director of Music and other musicians, with our administrative team, and with staff members from other ministry areas. Discuss your approach to being part of a healthy and supportive team, and reference any experiences—either good or bad—that inform this approach.

Please submit your completed application to:

Music Ministry Search
Attn: Pastor Tim Westermeyer
St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church
17205 County Rd 6
Plymouth, MN   55447

OR – you may email your application materials to twestermeyer@spdlc.org.

Our hope is to identify a short list of finalists by the end of May, at which point we plan to schedule and conduct in-person interviews. We look forward to receiving your application. If you have any questions about the process or the role, please reach out to:

Tim Westermeyer, Senior Pastor
twestermeyer@spdlc.org
763-475-7136

OR

Sam Grace, Director of Music
sgrace@spdlc.org
763-475-7142

Dear St. Philip the Deacon Friends,

I write to share news that Pastor Cheryl Mathison, our Teaching Pastor, has let us know that she will be retiring this spring. Her final Sunday in worship will be Sunday, May 12, 2024.

During Pastor Mathison’s 21-year call to St. Philip the Deacon, she has—among many other things—taught countless classes on the Bible and theology, regularly instructed our families and youth on the sacraments, and led five different travel groups to the Holy Land, Germany and Greece. For more than two decades at St. Philip the Deacon she has been a gifted teacher, worship leader and preacher, a trusted colleague, and a caring pastor. We give thanks for her good and faithful service.

“As one might imagine, I have mixed feelings about the transition from full-time ministry to retirement,” Pastor Mathison says. “I am very excited about what retirement holds, but I will grieve the loss of this faith community and its worship life as the place my family and I have called home for 21 years. More than anything I will miss the many people with whom I have built and established valued relationships over two decades at St. Philip the Deacon.”

During retirement, Pastor Mathison plans to pursue her many hobbies and interests, which she says are “more than enough, I think, to fill my days.” She and her husband Mark hope to do more traveling and biking together, and she also looks forward to being more available to her children and grandchildren, all of whom live in the area.

We will begin a search for a new pastor immediately, and will continue to keep the congregation updated with news on that front as there is more information to share.

In the meantime, I invite you to put two dates on your calendars related to our celebration of Pastor Mathison’s retirement: Thursday, May 2, from 5 to 7 p.m., when we will hold an open house reception in her honor at Wayzata Country Club; and the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12, when we will thank her during our worship services, and when she will preach her final sermon at St. Philip the Deacon.

“There is so much I could speak to after nearly 36 years in ministry,” Pastor Mathison says. “The highlights and memories are many. As I reflect on my ministry, most of all I feel honored to have been called and invited to bring God’s Word of love, comfort, hope, and promise at some of life’s darkest, and also at some of its most joyful, times.”

As we prepare to publicly celebrate Pastor Mathison for her long and faithful tenure over the next couple of months, I also encourage you to extend your gratitude and appreciation to her personally, and to keep her and the congregation in your prayers during this time of transition.

Grace and Peace,

Tim Westermeyer, Senior Pastor

Are you ready? It’s time for our 2nd Annual Hymn Madness challenge! This year’s hymns include the Elite 8 from the 2023 brackets, as well as some Lenten Longshots, Christmas Contenders and Easter Victors. Which hymn will come our number one?

Update April 29: The winner is: Beautiful Savior!

Thanks to all who participated in SPD’s Hymn Madness tournament!