Kristen Swan

Kristen Swan is currently a student at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Having entered adulthood in this post-modern millennium, the issues that define her generation are considerably different from the issues that faced most of you in your first third of life. The world that she has always known is controlled by the Internet and cell phones, by rap music and “reality” television, by the war on terrorism and a man called Bush, by struggles with sexual identity and disease, by incredible materialism and little accountability. Forced to battle these issues day to day, it is understandable to her why so many young people have become disillusioned by the role that the church has played in their lives… understandable but also unacceptable. As the dynamics of our culture ebb and flow, she believes it is necessary for the church to evolve too, so that people of all ages will know how relevant the love of Jesus Christ is in their lives. The world around us is constantly changing, but our relationships with God and with each other as Christians should never go out of style. Kristen became involved in congregational and synod-wide activities for just that reason – she gets very excited thinking about all the ways our church can actively grow to draw more young people through its doors. What else is she jazzed about? Ministry with children, partnership between congregations and the synod, outdoor ministry, ministry with families, ministry with the community, ministry with the world… any and all of the special connections that can be made between two people of faith. If you’re jazzed about these things too, she’d love to talk about it! Enjoy the site and feel free to contact us with any questions, comments, quandaries of all kinds.

Heidi Jakoby

Heidi Jakoby is the Youth Ministry Director Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church Salem NH; former member of the New England Synod Council; a recent graduate of Youth Ministry Certification School at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg . Co-Chair of the Youth Young Adult and Family Ministry Team for the New England Synod; Community Liaison for the Community and Faith Based Initiative, Faithfully One By One program for the state of New Hampshire. Heidi has volunteered at her home congregation Christ the King Nashua in various capacities from council to teacher. Her educational background is in Counseling and Family Studies working with college students. She has also worked in Manhattan for a fortune 500 company. Heidi enjoys cooking and entertaining, as well as starting craft projects and hiking.

Karl Ogren

Everyone’s favorite.

Steve Kennedy

Steve Kennedy is the New England Ministry Specialist for Youth & Young Adult Ministries.  Steve has served as a Youth and Family Ministry Director in ELCA congregations since 1993 (in California and Texas) after serving as a volunteer for several years prior to that in North Carolina.  He has served as a VBS and Active Curriculum presenter for Group Publishing, written the Junior High curriculum for "PRAY!" for the ELCA's Outdoor Ministry, and served on various synodical and church-wide boards.  Steve also is a trained composer and musician (studying at UNC-Chapel Hill) and writes music which is published by his own SAK Publications.  He also contributes reviews and articles to the online magazine "Film Score Monthly" and "Film Music Review," and even has a published encyclopedia entry in a German encyclopedia used for musicological research!  He is currently working on developing an Emergent Worship site.

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eide

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eide began serving as pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, Barrington , RI, in August 2002, following her ordination in July 2002. She received her Master of Divinity degree in 2001 from Luther Seminary, St. Paul , MN . She graduated in 1993 from St. Olaf College , Northfield , MN , one of the 28 ELCA colleges and universities, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion.  She and her husband Nick are the proud parents of twins, Jackson and Sophia.

The Rev. Stephanie Smith

In 2002, The Rev. Stephanie Smith began working with college students and young adults in the 5 college area of Western Massachusetts, in the towns of Amherst and Northampton. She worked on finding new ways to create a spiritual community with young people. She is currently a parish pastor at Our Savior Lutheran in South Hadley, MA. Though she is not currently working with young adults primarily, it is her passion to work on the church being more accessible to the unchurched. Stephanie is not an expert in this field but is available as a resource in the area of young adults. Her biggest advice is to remember the importance of listening and understanding who we are reaching out to and work with them to meet their needs. A guiding biblical story for her is Jesus meeting the woman at the well. He is so clear about who he is and understands her with out judgment, offering love.