Reverend Tyler Christiansen
Tyler grew up in the Southwest Minneapolis area, graduating from Edina High School. He received his B.A. in History and Education from Luther College in 2000, and his Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2003.
Tyler served Central United Methodist Church in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ from 2003 to 2007, and was appointed to LHUMC as of July 1, 2007.
Tyler and his wife Eleanor have a daughter Greta and a son Wes. His hobbies include music, movies, downhill skiing, and golf.
Email Reverend Tyler ChristiansenPat Ruppel
Pat has been a Church Office Administrator for twenty-six years. She is also our Sanctuary Choir Director and an accomplished organist.
Born in Sioux Falls, she graduated from Bemidji State University with a B.A. in Music. She and Kurt have two children, Sonja and Ian. Her hobbies include reading, crocheting and embroidery.
Email Pat RuppelKathy Webb
Kathy has been a Director of Music in several churches after graduating form Carleton college with a degree in music.
Originally from Wausau, Wisconsin she now resides in Minneapolis with her husband Tony. They have three children, Evie, Nora and Tom. In her spare time she directs musical theatre, runs, and bikes.
Email Kathy WebbEleanor Christiansen
Eleanor was born and raised in Alabama. Upon completing her BA in English/Lit at Birmingham-Southern College, she moved to Chicago to pursue a MDiv at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. There she fell in love with the Old Testament and a certain young seminarian (see the listing for Pastor). After marrying Tyler, taking a few extra classes and working for two years, she moved to New Jersey to pursue a PhD in Old Testament from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Eleanor is working on her dissertation in Song of Songs and enjoys being Greta’s mom too. She is thrilled to be working so closely with the children of Lake Harriet UMC and all the wonderful people who volunteer their time to be a part of these children’s lives.
In her scant free time, Eleanor enjoys reading, singing and cooking.
Lisa Schensted
Lisa grew up in Houston, TX and moved to Minnesota with her husband Andrew, a current Luther Seminary MDiv student in 2005. Lisa joined the Lake Harriet staff in September of 2005 and is crazy about youth ministry. She has a desire to guide and equip young people to serve God by serving others, to know and love Jesus Christ, and become filled with the Holy Spirit in their lives.
The most important part of Lisa's ministry with youth is that they know they are loved by God and their savior Jesus Christ unconditionally.
Lisa loves reading yong adult literature, knitting, playing video games, and watching movies. Her favorite movie is Gladiator and she is a Harry Potter enthusiast.
Chris Kliesen Wehrman
Our Director of Theatre Ministries is originally from Atwood, Kansas, and she says that the huge sky and endless, rolling plains are still the landscape her heart calls home. Her first profession was in theater, where she performed in everything from children's shows to Shakespeare for nearly 25 years, eventually arriving at Minneapolis’ own Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop. She is also a writer and visual artist and recently graduated from United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, earning the degree of Masters of Divinity with Concentration in the Arts.
She lives in St. Louis Park with her husband David Nyberg, her teenage daughter Bailey and two cats. She has directed our last three spring musical extravaganzas.
In her spare time Chris enjoys…wait a minute…she just enjoys the miracle of spare time!
Ellen Thorson
Ellen Thorson serves as Business Manager, joining the staff in August, 2007. She is a graduate of the College of St. Benedict. Ellen lives in Eagan with her husband Scott and daughter Kate. Son Eric is away at college.
Heidi Caskey and Nicolle Rockhold
Heidi started as our Assistant Preschool Director in 1996. She is currently serving as Preschool Co-Director. She received her Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota.Nicolle Rockhold serves as Co-Director, and also teaches one of the classrooms.
Email the PreschoolPreschool Teachers
- Kate Ollinger
- Sue Jordan
- Andrea Kist
- Suzy Schubloom