PASTORS & STAFF

In addition to leading and planning worship services in consultation with the Senior Pastor, his primary focus is to develop and coordinate adult theological educational opportunities for the congregation and for the community. These include Biblical studies, Lutheran Confessions, Lutheran heritage, ecumenical conversations, liturgical studies, social justice concerns, and contemporary theological reflection. The position is part time, in addition to Hall’s regular full-time duties as an Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Creighton University. The position at Kountze includes his work as Chaplain for Creighton’s Lutheran Campus Ministry at Creighton and serving as Chairman of the Board for the Healing Gift Free Clinic, L.L.C. Hall is a delegate in the official dialogue between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. A native of Houston, Texas, Hall was raised in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and joined the ELCA in college. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in history from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. After college, he worked for three years at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Houston, where he was the communications director and assistant to the director of The Melanchthon Institute, a center for theological education. He received his Master of Arts and Ph.D. from Fordham University in The Bronx, N.Y. (2009). He started his training for seminary at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and completed it through the TEEM program, receiving his degree from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 2010.

Rev. Stephen Griffith is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, now retired after serving churches in Nebraska for 35 years, including 13 years at Saint Paul United Methodist Church, Lincoln, Nebraska. His work included engagement with Lincoln’s music, arts and theatre groups, LGBT organizations, and a variety of human service and social justice organizations. After retiring in 2015 he served as executive of Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and has provided interim service for several churches. He served most recently as Transition Pastor at First Lutheran Church in Lincoln as they prepared to call a new lead pastor. Steve is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. He holds a certificate in Interfaith Spiritual Direction from the Chaplaincy Institute, Berkeley, California, and is a trained mediator. He is the immediate past president of the Faith Coalition of Lancaster County and is a member of the boards of directors of the Methodist Federation for Social Action and Planned Parenthood North Central States. In addition, he serves on the Planned Parenthood Clergy Advocacy Board and is active in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Steve has received numerous awards for his social justice work, interfaith dialog, and support of the arts. He is married to The Rev. Dr. Mary Kay Totty, Senior Pastor of the Seward United Methodist Church. They live in Lincoln.

I am deeply grateful to soon begin serving the Kountze community as your vicar. Thank you for your generosity in helping form future pastors for the wider church. It was a pleasure getting to know some of you while serving as a chaplain intern with the Healing Gift Clinic and the food pantry during the Spring and Summer of 2021. The relationships and ministry I experienced there moved our family to worship with you in person or on the live stream since then. While finishing my M.Div. coursework at Wartburg Seminary, it’s also been a privilege to learn alongside seminarians who’ve called KMLC home. Kountze is a special place to so many. Daughter of an immigrant mother and a Lutheran clergyman (ordained now 55 years), I grew up in small northwest Iowa towns and treasure my extended family’s roots in rural Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. After graduating from Luther College (Go Norse!), I started my professional life doing research and evaluating programs for the ELCA’s churchwide office in Chicago. Following graduate studies, I oversaw programs that financed the construction of housing for low-income families in upstate New York and Texas. Wherever our family’s path has taken us, our congregation’s community engagement has been an important part of my life; helping lead a food pantry operated by thirteen ecumenical congregations in Austin, Texas, and helping start a furniture ministry on Long Island profoundly shaped my sense of call to ministry. Since last year I’ve had the great joy of serving half-time as the Protestant Chaplain with Creighton Campus Ministry. That continuing work will constitute half of my seminary internship while serving half-time as your vicar. I look forward to getting to know each of you, learning from you, and serving in ways that support Kountze’s life of love for God in Christ and whole-hearted care for our neighbors. Thank you for the privilege of it all.