Carole Lea Arenson Gathering Chair Tempe, AZ	Since many of you have known me for years through ALCM and as the editor of your Region IV Newsletter, I want to take a cue from Paul Harvey and give you a “Behind the Story” snapshot about why I continue to serve. I remember vividly the day of my first “call”. It was a cold Minnesota winter day; I was in sixth grade and about to sing with my two sisters at a funeral. When we walked up to sing our song, I was inadvertently pushed so I backed into the side of the casket. My first impulse was to scream and run frantically out of the small church. However, then I thought it was fortunate I was the one touching the casket since my sisters were younger. And then…calmness came over me and a revelation. I immediately understood that my singing wasn’t about ME. It was about letting the words come through the music as a comfort to those listening. So it turned out to be my first “calling”. After that day I never feared singing in church because I knew I was merely a conduit. I kept singing for a variety of events through high school and my college years at St. Olaf. Upon graduation I found a music teaching position near New York City so I could take voice lessons and also attend concerts, Broadway Shows, etc. I continued to volunteer in choirs, offer solos and even organized some small vocal ensembles for the church. This continued when I married Barron as we moved to Connecticut and then to Iowa. Finally, when we were living near the Mississippi River, my allergies were triggered by mold, mildew, and the disintegrating wings of a river fly with a 48 hours lifespan. Basically I lost my singing voice for the year and my speaking voice for most of it. Listening to the doctor’s recommendation, we moved to the dry desert climate of Tempe, Arizona where I was to take the year off before returning to teaching. There was a Lutheran mission congregation about a mile from us. They had only been in their small sanctuary for a few months. Barron and I joined a small choir in September. By December the director had cancer and was not expected to live long. He asked me IF I would direct the adult choir until he got better. Well, I never wanted to direct a church choir since I was the one praying to God to please not let the men sing alone again. However, I didn’t have a job, had a choral music degree and the man was dying! I agreed to direct for a few months. At the first rehearsal I told them I would conduct only if I could worship through the music. So…”If I ask you to change anything about your sound it will be because the message needs to come through the music”. I went home thinking they would all be angry and not show up for the next rehearsal. However, the opposite happened and we had more singers. In a few months I was asked to direct an upper elementary choir. I told them I would do it only if they bought the whole battery of Orff Instruments. Surely I thought this was impossible for a mission congregation, but it happened. Then they challenged me to “do something” with the teenagers. I said I would not strum a guitar and sing camp songs since they could do better than that and actually could lead worship. They and I were given the opportunity. Well – I got conned into “church work” and for the first few years actually thought I would go back to teaching since it paid better. This was my second “calling”. After serving as Director of Music Ministry for 37 years at King of Glory Lutheran Church I finally decided it was enough. Now I do believe I am on my third “calling” which is to serve those of you who continue in the world of church music as a writer, editor of your newsletter and as chair of the upcoming 2010 Boulder Gathering. This is why I said “yes” when our Region IV President Norma Aamodt-Nelson asked me to chair the committee. Now…you know the REST of the story! I personally invite you to join us at our Region IV Gathering in beautiful Boulder. It could help refine your “calling”!
Carol Churchill Gathering Registrar Redmond, WA	Growing up in the Lutheran tradition and in a home where either piano lessons were being taught or practicing was taking place, it was a given that worship and music would be intertwined themes throughout my life. I currently serve at Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church in Sammamish, Washington. During my childhood, the organ at Fairbanks Lutheran Church was located in the rear of the nave. It was in this relative safety, behind all the parishioners, that my mother and I would exchange places during communion— and no one was the wiser as we transferred music from one set of hands to another. Why am I coming to Boulder in 2010? It was a natural thing to say yes to ALCM 2010 since I had served as registrar for 2006 and the software for registration was already on my computer. I’m already looking forward to renewing friendships, being inspired by worship and the music of others, as well as taking advantage of the Colorado vacation land and heading over to the “western slope” of Colorado for a post-conference visit with my daughter. Hope to see many of you in Boulder!
Joy Berg Edmonton, Alberta Canada	My name is Joy Berg. I grew up in the three western Canadian provinces by relocating with my father who was an ELCiC pastor. So I claim the whole western Canada as my home! I have always made music in the church from family singing to playing the services to singing in the choirs to conducting choirs. I received degrees in piano performance, elementary school education, and choral conducting here in Canada, as well as a doctorate in choral conducting from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. I have worked part-time and full-time as a church musician in several churches in both Canada and the United States. Currently, part of my work at Concordia is as chapel cantor, which I find very fulfilling but also very different from being a church musician. I find I am relishing the times when I get back into the Sunday morning leadership be it on the organ/piano bench or conducting choirs when someone needs a guest conductor for a day! The creative work of forming a service with other leaders is fulfilling. There is joy in the task of striving towards a cohesive whole as we link pieces of the service and the theme together. And I love working with people who give of their talents towards worship and honor of God. Presently, I teach full-time at Concordia (Edmonton) in the School of Music as an Associate Professor, conducting the choirs, teaching church music classes and music history classes, as well as being the chapel cantor. I also enjoy singing with the semi-professional choir in Edmonton, ProCoro Canada, and have many friends in this group. I feel honored to be asked to be part of this Regional Gathering Community. I very much value what the ALCM offers both in gathering times as well as in written communications. It will be both educational and fulfilling to be part of this planning group for the event right from the beginning. I expect to enjoy the people, the process and the “product”. I look forward to getting into all of these areas with this committee. And I hope to see you in Boulder in 2010!
Kim Cramer Mesa, AZ	My name is Kim Cramer and I’m the Director of Music at St Luke Lutheran Church in Mesa, Arizona. I’m excited to be part of the committee for “The Gathering” in Boulder in 2010. My background is quite diverse since I also teach elementary physical education part time, am a high school volleyball official and travel 4-5 times a year to be on staff for National Scholastic Chess tournaments. This summer I’m involved in helping organize the National Association of Sports Officials Summit in Tucson, AZ. To be involved in the planning committee of “The Gathering” allows me to help bring diversity to ALCM. I’m very passionate about the many changes in the church and worship and feel we need to embrace those church musicians who may not be in the ‘traditional’ setting and help equip them through our conferences. Join us in Boulder to be spiritually uplifted, challenged and have the opportunity to grow professionally.
Jerry Gunderson Phoenix, AZ	I grew up in the rural Minnesota town of Hoffman, where my high school graduating class of 33 students was one of the "big classes"! It was great to grow up in a peaceful little town, and it still is “home” whenever I visit. I studied choral/vocal music at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, where I met and married a delightful and talented pastor's daughter from Montana. Karin and I spent 10 years in Minneapolis, where we served Redeemer Lutheran Church as Music Directors, and enjoyed singing with the National Lutheran Choir. I have served at All Saints as Director of Worship and Music in Phoenix, AZ since 1993. I have primary responsibility for planning liturgy and music, leading worship as organist/pianist/cantor, and directing the Sanctuary Choir, Handbell Choirs, Teen Choir, and three intergenerational instrumental ensembles that regularly support hymns and liturgy: All Saints’ Brass Ensemble, Woodwind/String Ensemble, and Guitar/Percussion Ensemble. I love rich and meaningful liturgical worship, vibrant congregational singing, and creating beautiful music with choirs and instrumentalists. There is lots of music-making in the Gunderson family. Karin and daughter Joy (18) are harpists, vocalists and flutists who participate regularly in worship and concerts, and son Ryan (12) is a pianist who loves to improvise. When I’m not busy with music, I enjoy cooking and hiking, spending time with family, concerts, movies and “Ole and Lena” jokes, and (not often enough) I play an occasional round of golf with Ryan. I served four years as ALCM Region IV President. I have also served on several conference planning committees, and I enjoy the friendships and the sharing of ideas that are part of ALCM conference planning teams. The Boulder Gathering will be a great time for learning, encouragement, inspiration, and building relationships that can become lifelong friendships. I’ll see you there!
Valerie Hess Boulder, Colorado www.valeriehess.com	I am so excited that you will be coming to my home church, Trinity Lutheran, here in Boulder, Colorado. I am Coordinator of Music Ministries and Organist in this thriving downtown congregation. I've been at Trinity for over 12 years. My husband has been a pastor at First Presbyterian Church here in Boulder for the last 25 years. We live in the cottage in Chautauqua Park where he spent much of his childhood, an exciting National Historic Landmarked area that you will visit Tuesday evening of the Gathering for dinner and a concert (either inside the famous Chautauqua Auditorium or under the stars with the large "outdoor blanket audience"). I get to show you both where I work and where I live, a real treat for me personally. I also write and speak on the Spiritual Disciplines and have two books in print about their practical use in our daily lives and with children. I teach part-time in the Masters of Spiritual Formation and Leadership Program (MSFL) for Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Michigan. (I love the Internet!) I am also finishing a 6-year term on the National Board for the Leadership Program for Musicians (LPM) which I know many of you have been involved in. I would love to talk to you if you are interested in learning more about this program that helps musicians, with maybe less training than they would like to have, lead worship and music more effectively in their congregation. It is a great follow-up venue for all the great ideas you will get at the Gathering. We can do that over meals or on the Tuesday night hike option that will start in Chautauqua and move into the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks area that surrounds it. I have a M.M. in Church Music and Organ from Valparaiso University. In addition to playing the organ and all of the other usual church music and worship planning activities I am privileged to be a part of (though I don't conduct our Adult choir), I lead both the Worship Team (a more "contemporary" group) and the Trinity Consort (a recorder group with harpsichord). I think it is an exciting time, though not an easy one, to be a church musician. There are so many challenges but lots of room for creativity, too. That is why I think this Gathering for ALCM Region IV and friends will be so useful. I like conferences that speak to "life in the trenches" and this one will certainly do that. I am on the hosting committee for the conference as well as on the steering committee. We are doing all we can to roll out the red carpet here in Boulder (at the most reasonable cost we can do it for)! We are going to have some unusual opportunities for interaction, learning, engaging, and refreshment. And, Boulder is close to all kinds of great vacation spots here in Colorado so you can come early or stay late. I so look forward to seeing all of you next summer! It will be a great event and I am honored to be a part of putting it together.
Thomas Keesecker Billings, MT	In 2005, the large Catholic church (in Bel Air, Maryland), I was serving granted me a three month sabbatical to recharge my batteries. I had wanted to get back to serving an ELCA congregation and while looking over the ALCM job listings during that time I saw an announcement for the position I currently have in Billings, Montana. It seems I had spent my entire life on the I-95 corridor and the thought of moving out West had a certain appeal to it. I think too I was probably in some mid-life crisis thing and just wanted to make a change. Of course most of my friends (and my wife) thought I was crazy. So, in September 2005, after selling our house in one day in Maryland, I started my new position as Director of Worship and Music at American Lutheran Church in Billings. Most of you know me through my published compositions. Simply put: I like to play with notes. I recall my high school music theory class from the early 70’s. We were a bunch of wannabe rock stars shepherded by our instructor who was probably just a few years older than us. She had long red hair and she acknowledged all of our creations with equal consideration, the same way a mother would. Her name was Miss Scripture. I am not kidding. She encouraged me to write down my piano improvisations and figure out what I was trying to play. After high school, I went to Berklee in Boston for two years and then returned home to Northern Virginia. In December 1976, another influential woman came into my life - my future wife, Patricia. Her mother was the head of the Music and Worship Committee at their (LCA) church. (While writing this I keep humming the song that was a #1 hit in 1961 – Mother-In Law.) Mrs. Baker was a tough Texas sweetie and before too long I was on the organ and piano bench at Good Shepherd Lutheran. Tricia and I were married in December, 1979. This year is our thirty year anniversary. I went to the Catholic University of America School of Music as a composition major. I commuted 70 miles a day to Washington DC for four years. Charlie Callahan was getting his DMA at the time and I was fortunate to have him give me organ lessons. Playing the Aeolian-Skinner at his downtown church was an experience. I’ve been blessed over the years to be surrounded by people who have encouraged my creativity, from my wife to my choir members and my editors. This urge to create feels at times almost like a curse when I can not stop polishing a piece I’m working on. Maybe I’m compulsive. I do acknowledge that creativity and music making are gifts from God. I connect to other people through the gifts God has given me. Those of us who serve the liturgical arts know this burden and blessing. The demands on today’s liturgical musicians are complex. Gatherings such as the one we’re planning are our times to learn and share. See you in Boulder.
Gerry Luethi Boulder, CO	My present church position is “Associate Director of Music” at Atonement Lutheran Church in Boulder, Colorado. My job involves the keyboard portion of our music ministry (organ and piano) and being the director of a 13 ringer handbell choir. Church was the place I personally experienced music and where I have chosen to serve God for all of my life. I am old enough to retire, but have not taken that step as yet. I am working with an excellent music director whose choir thrills my heart. My singer husband feels the same way, so we will serve as long as we are able at Atonement. I am a graduate of the University of Colorado, with a Bachelor of Music with honor in piano performance. I studied organ with E. J. Hilty at CU at a later time, on a private coaching basis, and also developed a handbell program at my church under his tutelage. I served as a staff accompanist at CU for nearly ten years. I continue to play classical piano as an avocation and work extensively as a vocal and instrumental accompanist in the Boulder area. E. J. Hilty was an early and honored member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers and has composed many award-winning pieces for handbells. In 1990 he joined with my music engraver husband and me in forming Flagstaff Publishing. We hold many of E. J’s copyrights and have many other fine handbell composers represented in our catalog. I attended my first ALCM conference last summer in San Francisco. I was impressed with the superb quality of worship, playing, singing, and the thought provoking words from the key-note speaker. I am eager to help plan an experience in 2010 in Boulder that will be equally as inspiring. See you in Boulder!
Timothy Snyder Boulder, CO	Greetings from Boulder, Colorado! We are delighted that Boulder will be the host for the 2010 ALCM Region IV Gathering. I want to personally take this opportunity to invite you to join us for what I am sure will be a refreshing and spirit-filled time together next summer. Home to the University of Colorado, Boulder is a vibrant college town of 70,000 year-round residents and some 25,000 students. Known for its natural and cultural beauty (and refreshing quirkiness—sometimes called “25 square miles surrounded by reality!”), Boulder is located 25 miles northwest of Denver at a mile-high altitude of 5,430 feet and is nestled against a spectacular mountain backdrop. Walking and biking is the preferred form of transport here, and you will find the city easily accessible on foot or public transport. Miles of trails crisscross the town and continue into the mountains west of the downtown area where our Gathering will be centered. I am in my tenth year at Atonement Lutheran (ELCA) in Boulder where I serve as Director of Worship and Music. I am Artistic Director of the Boulder Chorale, an umbrella community choral arts organization comprising three ensembles: a graded children’s choral program, an 80-voice adult ensemble called the Boulder Camerata, and an open-to-all mixed community chorale. My studies in music were completed at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (M.M.) and University of Colorado (D.M.A.). I was involved with the introduction of the ELW resources at the synod level and together with a team of clergy and musicians have led workshops on ELW materials in congregations throughout the Rocky Mountain Synod. My choral compositions are published with Shawnee Press, Hinshaw and Santa Barbara Music. My passion is choral singing, especially in leading the assembly’s song in worship. I am fortunate to serve at Atonement with talented colleagues Gerry Luethi, organist and handbell specialist, and Kathy Stith, our early childhood music education specialist. Together with them and the Region IV team, I look forward to welcoming you to Boulder in 2010 and being fed by our time together. Do join us in Boulder!
Helen Thoenes Tucson, AZ	Greetings to all from sunny Arizona! My name is Helen Thoenes and I am currently serving as Director of Worship Arts at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oro Valley, Arizona. I have served a total of 15 years in this faith community with involvements for more than 20 years. I am a born-and-raised Tucson Lutheran who attended school at the University of Arizona and graduated with a BA in music education. I work with both children and adults in many ways in my call to ministry, all of which center around worshiping God through the arts. I am extremely blessed to have been called to ministry. I love God. I love people. I love worship. I love the arts. ‘Nuff said. I am married with three boys (20, 16 &14) and I love to run, read, sleep, eat, and work. I said “yes” to participating in the planning of our ALCM Region IV Gathering in Boulder 2010 for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that saying “no” to Carole Arenson is out of the question! But also, because I am and born-and-raised Tucson Lutheran (i.e. – a Lutheran who hails from the Southwest and not the Midwest), my experience of worship is different from perhaps many other Lutherans. Different not better or worse. I am passionate about providing opportunities for worshipers to become aware of being in the presence of God, regardless of the vehicle used to facilitate that awareness. I try to avoid getting all balled up about “contemporary” vs. “traditional” or other land-mine terms. God has called me to love people and to help them experience the transforming love and grace of God. The arts are my tool. They are not “IT”, but they help me know, understand, relate to God and provide me a way to help others to do the same. I want to know more about how to do this and I believe all of us who are interested in meaningful worship want to know also. I am hopeful that this gathering might be the start of some different and life changing conversations which does need to happen in the church of today. And so, like the others on this team, I personally issue a call to you: come join us as we explore where and how God is leading the church and each of us as leaders in God’s church. Come be a part of the change we all hope to see! I’m confident that Boulder will hold many grace-filled moments for those of us who are open to experiencing those moments! See you in 2010!
Erik Whitehill Tempe, AZ	I am a Midwestern transplant to Arizona (like most of the people in the state). I grew up in Council Bluffs, Iowa and received my B.A. in music education at Luther College in Decorah, IA. I moved to Tempe to take to the position of Associate Director of Music Ministry at King of Glory Lutheran Church, a position that I held for 11 years (‘96 – ‘07). I am currently in my third year as choir director and guitar teacher at Gililland Middle School in Tempe. I also have music published by Augsburg Fortress and Falls House Press (Theodore Presser). My time at King of Glory was extremely formative for me. It was an intense experience that I have often likened to jumping on a speeding freight train (I think it could also be called “good” crazy). My position included: directing kindergarten and middle school choirs, coordinating 1st – 6th grade music education, directing two handbell choirs and co-directing the high school choir, in addition to worship planning, accompanying, arranging/composing, leading retreat music/worship and publications formatting/layout. Along the way, through countless hours of spiritual journeying, relationship building, prayer and much music making, I found two areas for which I have a strong passion: 1) helping people grow into life-long worship participants and leaders, 2) arranging and writing music which matches the intent and talents of the people in our midst. I keep busy (when I am not teaching) with composition projects (sacred and secular) and a lot of accompanying. I have especially enjoyed playing pit piano for local high school theater productions these last few years. I also enjoy reading while floating around in my pool and my Nintendo Wii (though not simultaneously). I said “yes” to serving on the Region IV Gathering Committee because I have seen the immense value that comes from ALCM regional conferences. As format/layout editor of the Region IV Newsletter, it seems fitting for me to be involved with the design and layout for the gathering printed materials. Region IV is unique. Region IV knows how to put together for a worthwhile experience. Region IV needs you. Consider yourself invited to beautiful Boulder in 2010!

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