Dear Friends,

I am delighted to announce that Jen Galley will be joining the St. Philip the Deacon team as our first Director of Adult Education. In this role, Jen will be responsible for curating and overseeing in-person and online learning opportunities for adults that build faith and deepen community. She will begin her ministry with us on Sept. 8.

Jen comes to St. Philip the Deacon with rich teaching experience in both church and college settings, and holds degrees and certificates in ministry and spiritual direction from Luther Seminary, Christos Center for Spiritual Formation, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and North Central University. Look for more information later this summer about new learning opportunities for the fall.

I am also delighted to announce that JoBeth Ranfranz will join our team as Director of the SPD Ringers. With more than 25 years of experience leading handbell choirs, JoBeth has served as a regular substitute director for us, so is already well-known to our handbell choir. We are glad to have her continue to build on and expand the work of this ensemble.

In addition to these staff additions, I am pleased to announce some changes to roles and responsibilities for existing staff, as follows:

Kathy Hagedorn will now be focusing her energy on programming for our Pre-K children, including oversight of our Childcare Center.

Norah Long, who worked with our Sunday School children approximately once a month last year, will expand her presence in K-4 Sunday School to multiple weekends a month. She and Pastor Makayla Dahleen are already at work to refresh the curriculum for this important ministry.

Charlie Olson, who joined us last year as our Middle School intern, has accepted our offer to lead our Middle School and Confirmation Ministries.

Renee Putnam has moved into a role focused on Service and Engagement, where she will help plan and oversee opportunities for members to give back and build community.

Please join me in celebrating all of these new additions and changes, and keep all of these individuals in your prayers as we prepare for an exciting fall!

Grace and Peace,
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

We’ve got plenty of summer events planned, from Vacation Bible School to art classes, Minnesota Twins games to garden tours. Learn more about these events by visiting our online registration site, and sign up for summer events full of fun, faith and fellowship! You can pick up a Summer Preview brochure at church, or download a PDF here.

Holy Week

March 23—Saturday, 5 p.m.

March 24—Palm Sunday Worship at 8:15, 9:30 [L] and 10:45 a.m.

March 28—Maundy Thursday, 7 p.m. [L] 

March 29—Good Friday Worship:

• Children’s Service 5:30 p.m. [L] 
• Veneration of the Cross, 7 p.m. [L] 

March 30—First Light of Easter, 5 p.m.

Easter Sunday, March 31

8 a.m.*—Easter Worship
9:30 a.m.—Easter Worship [L] 
11 a.m.*—Easter Worship

[L] Livestreamed services can be watched in real time at spdlc.org/livestream, and later at YouTube.com/@SPDLC.
* Note Sunday worship time alteration

Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 12, 5:30 and 7 p.m.

Lent falls early on the calendar this year, with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 14. We’ll have worship services at 12 noon, 5:30 and 7 p.m., with Holy Communion and the Imposition of Ashes. The 7 p.m. service will be livestreamed.

If you will not be able to worship with us in person on Ash Wednesday, we are making available containers of ashes for you to use as you watch the service online. The ashes may be picked up in advance in the atrium, inside Door A.

Lenten Wednesdays
Feb. 21, 28, March 6, 13, and 20

Join us for Soup Suppers at 5:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall during Lent. This year we will offer these meals by free-will offering, which you may give as you enter Fellowship Hall, or use the QR code at the tables when you are seated.

During Lent, we will be reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together. After the Wednesday Soup Supper, we’ll gather to worship at 7 p.m. using the Holden Evening Prayer service. Our pastors will be reflecting on the following themes discussed in Bonhoeffer’s book:

• Feb. 21—Community
• Feb. 28—The Day Together
• March 6—The Day Alone
• March 13—Service
• March 20—Confession and the Lord’s Supper

On those Wednesday evenings, we will have questions and topics at the soup supper tables that you can discuss with others before worship.

Life Together, by Dietrick Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together, is available for purchase at St. Philip the Deacon for $10 at the hospitality desk in the atrium. If you like to read electronically, we found this link to a downloadable PDF of the book.

Lenten Practice Calendar

You can download a PDF of the Parish Nurse’s Lenten Practice Calendar, which focuses on increasing kindness and wellness in your life during the Lenten season.

Rite of Confirmation: Affirming Our Faith

The Rite of Confirmation is administered to 9th grade students who have completed the confirmation program at St. Philip the Deacon. Each student will be prayed for, participate in special services and publicly affirm their faith.

The Rite of Confirmation consists of four events:

1. Student Rehearsal/Parent Meeting
The students meet for rehearsal and have their photos taken. During that time the parents will meet for an overview of upcoming confirmation related events.

2. The Blessing of the Confirmands
The Blessing of the confirmands takes place the weekend prior to the service of Confirmation on the Baptism of Jesus weekend during worship. Students attend their normal worship service. The students are blessed and prayed for in anticipation of their upcoming step of faith.

3. The Celebration of Passage
The Celebration of Passage is a special service that is just for confirmation students, their parents and prayer partners. It takes place at church during the week between the Blessing of the confirmands and the Rite of Confirmation. This service is a highlight for many students and families as students are reminded how deeply they are loved.

Parents have the opportunity to choose the prayer partner for their student, if there is someone special in the life of the child—a grandparent, godparent, aunt, uncle, coach, confirmation guide, etc.—they may be asked to be the student’s prayer partner. Otherwise, we have many people within the congregation who would consider it a privilege to be a prayer partner for a confirmation student.

4. Rite of Confirmation Worship Service
This is the official Rite of Confirmation worship service. Families, Godparents and friends are all welcome to gather for this special celebration of our ninth graders as they affirm the faith into which they were baptized.

For more information contact: Amanda Berger, Interim Director of Middle School Ministry at 763-475-7139 or aberger@spdlc.org.