Worship

Sundays at 10:00 a.m.

300 Union Street
Northfield, MN 55057
507-645-7532

Photo album

Staff

300 Union Street, Northfield, MN  55057
507-645-7532 (Phone)
507-645-0930 (Fax)

Interim Minister:
Jeff Barton, Email Jeff

Jeff Barton has been in United Church of Christ programs and congregations since 1979 when he was a seminary intern at Parkview Congregational UCC in Aurora, Colorado. He has been a pastor, a campus minister, an associate pastor, a senior minister and a UCC conference association minister. Jeff has served the UCC in Idaho, New Hampshire and Montana for longer calls and in Wyoming, Wisconsin and Oregon for shorter terms and interims. He has served as an interim minister in four settings before ours, and is looking to continue to do intentional interim work for the extension of his active ministry career. Jeff has been with Casas Adobes UCC in Tucson, Arizona since February of 2009, with his last Sunday being July 11. He is a native of Minneapolis, and has academic degrees from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He now permanently resides among the mountains, rivers and people of the Portland, Oregon area, where he enjoys skiing in the winter and river rafting in the summer. He’s a 21 handicap in golf and prefers jazz and blues in his musical tastes. Jeff has two young adult children. Jed lives and writes in Billings, Montana. Katie (Carleton alum, 2007) has begin her graduate studies in medical school in Portland, Oregon. Jeff has a significant other, Rev. Mary Sue Evers, a UCC pastor in the Portland, OR, area.

Pastoral Care Associate:
Cathy Cammack, Email Cathy

Cathy joined the staff as Pastoral Care Associate at First UCC in 2005. She provides pastoral care and pastoral counseling, coordinates the pastoral volunteers, facilitates groups, and serves as staff support to the Congregational Care Council.  Cathy has a Bachelor of Science degree in English/Secondary Education and taught high school English for several years. She has a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology and has over sixteen years of experience as an individual, couple, and family therapist. She completed a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) through Fairview Health Centers in Mpls. and the Northfield Retirement Community, and recently completed, at United Theological Seminary, requirements for Pastoral Care Specialist certification through the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She is a member of the Northfield Grief Coalition.  She grew up in Southwest Wisconsin and moved to Minnesota in 1980.  She and her husband are the parents of four grown children and eight grandchildren. 

Director of Educational & Youth Ministries:
Cher Langley Duys, Email Cher

Cher has been on staff since 1997 supporting, resourcing and providing leadership for our children, youth and adult faith formation ministries. Her past career was in pediatric and adolescent nursing. Cher is certified as a leader in Godly Play, a Montessori style curriculum, Our Whole Lives, a UCC sexuality curriculum, and has a certificate in Youth Ministry from Princeton Seminary.  She serves as a Partner in Education for our denomination and has served on the Minnesota Conference UCC Christian Education Committee. 

Director of Music:
Christopher Brunelle, Email Chris

Christopher Brunelle has served as Director of Music since 2003, conducting the Senior Choir and organizing the musical life of the church. His Congregational roots go back to his childhood at Plymouth Church in Minneapolis.  As a student at Carleton College he performed in over 100 concerts, and from 1989 to 1991 he sang in the King’s College Choir of Cambridge, England, the first American to do so.   Chris encourages anyone interested in contributing to the church’s musical life to get in touch with him.

Director of Spirit Voices:
Bob Gregory-Bjorklund, Email Bob

Bob is active in leading music for many regional and national UCC events, and leads the Spirit Voices Choir in our worship service once a month.

Director of Children’s Music (beginning September 2010):
Shana Hodel

Organist:
Theo Wee, Email Theo

In the fall of 2009 the congregation honored Theo Wee for her “first” forty years on the church staff!  As Minister of Music, combining the roles of organist and director of the senior choir, she was instrumental in guiding and encouraging the congregation to purchase a beautiful, historic 1876 Johnson pipe organ of 52 ranks from a Buffalo, New York church.  The organ was moved and installed in Northfield in 1994.   Now Theo is serving only as organist working with the  music staff whose combined efforts create a vibrant and diverse worship each week.  In Northfield Theo has always been an active teacher, both privately and as professor of music at St. Olaf College.   Her academic career started in her home state of South Dakota, graduating from the University of South Dakota, and continued at Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music in New York, where she received her master’s degree in sacred music.  Further study was done at Indiana University, Bloomington, and at the Royal School of Church Music in Croydon, England.  

Office Manager:
Elaine Frandrup, Email Elaine

Elaine is responsible for many administrative tasks in the church, including the Sunday bulletin, monthly newsletter The Chronicle, building use, keys, and the church calendar.

Bookkeeper and Web-site Manager:
Andrea Pegram, Email Andrea

Andrea is our bookkeeper, responsible for all tactical fiduciary operations of the church.  She also works closely with the church treasurer in development and implementation of the church’s annual budget, and with the Stewardship Committee during the church’s annual pledge drive. Additionally, she manages our church website.  Andrea is a Northfield native and St. Olaf alumni, with a background in Economics and Finance.

Child Care Coordinator:
Tammy Rischmiller, Email Tammy

Tammy oversees the equipment and supplies in the nursery, schedules volunteers to do childcare on Sunday mornings, and is both present and in charge of the nursery on Sunday mornings.

Custodian:
Ron Olson

Ron is responsible for the cleaning and upkeep of our historic building, and for setting up furniture and other equipment as it is needed.

Night Security:
Mark Fischer

Mark makes sure our building is locked and secured each evening.