Staff

Pastor

Matthew Poock

e-mail – pastor@stjohns-lc.org

Matt comes to St. John’s from the great state of Iowa. He joined the congregation in August 2010. Pastor Matt has extensive experience in a wide variety of ministries. He has worked in international outreach ministries, youth programs, camping ministry, and music leadership. He most recently served as an associate pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, IA. His academic background includes a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, and a Bachelor’s degree from Luther College, Decorah, IA, with majors in music and psychology.Pastor Matt brings with him to Evansville a growing family. He and his lovely wife Becca are blessed with a bouncing baby girl named Eleanor Grace. In many ways Becca is his partner in ministry. She received her Bachelor’s degree in music education, Wartburg College, Waverly, IA, and a Master of Arts degree in Youth and Family Ministry from Luther Seminary (where they met and began their lifelong alliance).When Pastor Matt is not in his office or deep in conversation, you’ll find him diving into swimming pools, strapping on running shoes, or thumbing through a magazine. Becca enjoys her time in the kitchen, as well as making music. A smiling, talkative infant captures both their attention daily.We welcome Pastor Matt and his family into our lives and look forward to many fruitful years of building our personal relationships and spiritual lives.

Parish Secretary

Deborah Fredendall

e-mail – secretary@stjohns-lc.org

Debbie has worked as St. John’s Parish Secretary since 1991. When the job was posted she was working as an Administrative Assistant at Stoughton Hospital and thought, “that would be a great job – working for my church family.” The church family is very important to her and her family, so being able to help things run smoothly in the parish office has been very rewarding.

Debbie has been married to Scott, her high school sweetheart, for over 35 years. They have two children, Jeff and Amy. They have one granddaughter, Ellie Faith. Debbie considers having Ellie in their lives as a wonderful gift from God.

When Debbie’s not working at church she enjoys walking in the outdoors, working in garden, baking, cooking meals for her family and especially playing with Ellie. In the winter months she enjoys relaxing and watching her special TV programs.

Financial Secretary

Shelly Andrew

e-mail – finances@stjohns-lc.org

Shelly Andrew has been the Financial Secretary at St. John’s since spring of 2008. She has lived in the Evansville area since the age of two, when her family moved here, and has been a member of St. John’s since then. She and Ken, her high school sweetheart have been married for twenty eight years, and have three children, Phil, Carly and Jorie. After running a business with her husband for 16 years, they made the decision to close the business, and she is attending Blackhawk Technical College to pursue a degree as a Registered Nurse. She really enjoys her part time job here, and feels it is a wonderful connection with the church.

Sunday School Superintendent

Raquel Michel

e-mail – michelr@evansville.k12.wi.us

Raquel took over the reins of the Sunday School program in September of 2009. She is an administrative assistant at the Theodore Robinson Intermediate School. She and her husband Keith have been members of St. John’s for 14 years. They have two children, Josh and Lily.

Music Director

Ben Welch

e-mail – benwelch.md@gmail.com

Ben looks forward to getting to know the congregation. He considers it a privilege to be serving as St. John’s Music Director. He will be working with the Adult Choir and leading the Praise Team (with some help), plus playing the piano & organ. He was ecstatic to find that there is SO MUCH MUSIC in the library already, and has only just scratched the surface as he sorts through things. Ben warns the congregation that we won’t just be resting on what has already been done, because he is looking forward to finding some NEW music and moving forward in that direction, too.

Ben grew up in Oconomowoc, WI, and presently lives in Madison with his wife (and high school sweetheart) Marisa and their three dogs. He took his first piano lesson at the age of 5, when his mother noticed that he kept sitting at the family piano and wanting to know how to “make it work.” Along the way he added percussion, the organ, and singing to his repertoire. Eventually he attended Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated with a degree in Piano Performance. These days when he’s not at home or church he works as a keyboard music Editor at Hal Leonard Corporation, the world’s largest sheet music publisher. He also plays the occasional extra music “gig” around the area, and has even found some time to record a few piano CDs in a makeshift home studio. When he’s NOT working with music in some capacity (which is not often), Marisa and he enjoy the typical “frivolities” like games and movies, watching the Brewers or Packers, and going to the dog park. One of their dogs is a Therapy Dog, officially registered with The Delta Society, so they also volunteer their (and his) time visiting those in need of a smile.

Visionotes Editor

Judy Bratzke

e-mail – jbratzke@charter.net

Judy has worked as St. John’s Visionote editor since 1999. She has also served on the boards of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Evansville Golf Course and the Evansville Primetimers as the secretary. The bulk of her professional career was working at Baker Manufacturing Co. in Evansville for 35 years as secretary and graphic layout designer.

She has been married to Don for 44 years. They have three children, Kelly, Matthew and Renae. Her grandchildren are the great joy of her life.

Judy loves the outdoors. She has a huge vegetable garden, loves her flowers and taking care of the lawn. In addition, she enjoys bowling, golf and quilting. Finally, Judy is a volunteer at Creekside Place and had the pleasure of seeing it come to reality by working on the fund raising campaign.

Custodians

Peck and Joan Sperry

e-mail – secretary@stjohns-lc.org

Peck and Joan have been custodians at St. John’s for 20 years. Peck grew up in Evansville, and Joan in Stoughton. They have lived in Evansville for 52 years. They have three children Jay, Christi, and Todd with six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. They take great pleasure in all sports, especially baseball. Their hobbies are golf and bowling. They enjoy their job at St. John’s and their church family.