Our Team
Hi! My name is Jessie Camp and I’m the Children, Youth, and Families Director. I spent the early part of my life in Cleveland, Ohio, but I like to call St. Michael, Minnesota my hometown. I graduated in 2021 from St. Olaf College with a B.A. in Music and Religion.
In my free time, I love to read, crochet, and participate in all forms of music making. I’m also a huge animal lover!
My favorite bible verse is always a difficult one to pin down (there are so many great ones!), but I often find myself coming back to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth…Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Hi, I’m Rod Wiese, Director of Youth and Music Ministry. My wife, Heidi and I live down in Iowa. When I am not at the church, I enjoy running, hiking, golfing, playing Pickleball, playing guitar, and visiting the many local wineries and breweries. My favorite Bible verse is John 8: 32 – “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” This is my confirmation verse, and each time I think about it, there is more clarity for life. The truth is that we all are precious children of God, no matter what anyone may say to the contrary. This will always be our identity. This truth makes it safe to be who we are created to be. In simply living in this reality, every moment of every day, we respond to this truth in how we live our lives.
Hi, I’m Mark Van House, Senior Pastor of Our Savior’s. I was born and raised in Austin. I attended Shaw School and Austin High School. I graduated from St Olaf College & received my M.Div. from Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul. I was ordained here at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in 1987. I’ve served over 3 decades in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Canada.
I was called as a pastor in eastern Montana (4 years), suburban Denver and Greeley, CO (13 years), Toronto Canada (12 years), Spring Valley MN (3 years) and since August 2019 back at Our Savior’s Lutheran here in Austin.
The congregation I served in the Greater Toronto area is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse Lutheran churches in North America.
I met my spouse, Kara Johnston, while in CO and enjoyed hiking, skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking. Kara and I like taking walks here in Austin at the nature center, along with snowshoeing. We enjoy the music and arts programs along with the community events in our city. It’s an honor and pleasure to serve my home congregation as senior pastor. I hope you will find it to be a welcoming and caring faith family as I found it to be while growing up in this congregation.
Micah 6:8
I’m Krista Wald Kennedy, serving as Director of Communications and Missions. I grew up in Austin. I left for college and spent much of my younger adult years in Illinois or in the Twin Cities, working in healthcare. I moved back to Austin with my daughter, Alayna, our golden retriever, Honey, and our kitten, Figaro, in 2018. When I’m not at the church I may be found gardening, experiencing theatre/music/art, at the pool watching diving, or exploring a new country. Through trials faced in the past years, I found it so difficult to find words to express myself to God. How does one pray to Him? Confront Him? Get angry with Him? Thank Him? Then I found Psalm 139: 3-4, “You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins!” Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” He doesn’t just tell us which way to go, he shows us the path.
Hi, I’m Deb Johnson. I serve as the Office Administrator. I’m married to Brian, have one grown son, Ethan, and a wonderful pup, Sadie. When I am not at the church I may be found gardening or traveling the world after my son! My go-to Bible verse for inspiration and hope is: Matthew 6: 34, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Bob - The custodian and maintenance person! A picture is coming soon.