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Pastors
Pastor Scot Sorensen,
Senior Pastor
Pastor Scot Sorensen has served as Senior Pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sacramento, California since 1999. Like Bethel, St. John’s is a downtown congregation in a state capitol city, with a large state university. Under Pastor Scot’s leadership, St. John’s Lutheran has expanded ministries with the homeless, a partnership abroad with the Lutheran Church in Rwanda, an all ages music venue and recently completed a multi-million dollar restoration of their 95 year-old sanctuary.
Prior to St. John’s Lutheran Church, Pastor Scot was Associate Pastor at churches in Texas and California. He is a native of California, and completed his Master of Divinity at Luther Seminary in St. Paul in 1984. He is married to Kathy, who holds a Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Texas – Austin. She teaches college-level biology. Pastor Scot and Kathy have an eight year-old son, Kai.
Asked about his convictions, Pastor Sorensen identifies three prominent themes of his ministry: First is the truth that we are saved by grace through faith and this is not our own doing. Second is awareness of the resurrected Jesus in our lives - leading to the question, “Where have you encountered Jesus this week?” Third is a conviction that God is constantly calling us into a preferred and promised future and inviting us to discern and live into that reality. Pastor Sorensen describes his passion for the ministry and his vision as “Live God’s love in the world through a community that is centered in enthusiastic and inspirational worship, grace filled service and rich opportunities for spiritual growth.”
Pastor Jaime Dubon,
Interim Latino Ministries
Pastor Jaime Dubon, from El Salvador, joins the Bethel staff as a one year Interim Pastor for Latino Ministries. Jaime served the Lutheran Church in El Salvador as a lay leader from 1987-1991. He moved to Chicago in 1991 to study at the Lutheran School of Theology, and was ordained in 1994.
Returning to El Salvador, he served as an Associate Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church, with a focus on education and working with church sponsored schools. From 1997-1999, he served Rivers of Living Waters Lutheran Church, his original lay leadership church from 1987. During this time, he also led the Department of Theology at the El Salvador University and directed the activities of the Sister Parish Office, coordinating the programs between El Salvador, the United States, Finland and Germany. In 2004, Pr. Jaime accepted a call to serve the congregation of St. Andrew’s Church in West Chicago. During the first five years of this call, he traveled to El Salvador, visiting his family until they were able to secure visas in 2009. Pr. Jaime is married to Marisol, and they have four children: Jaime Jr., Johnny, Gaby and Luis.
Visitation & Worship
Pastor Curtis Everson was born just west of Madison in the township of Black Earth. During the Korean conflict, he served four years in the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, where he was a History major and a member of the St. Olaf Choir. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, and did graduate work for two years at the UW-Madison.
Pr. Everson interned at North Community Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio; was senior pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Warren, Ohio; and for 30 years (1967-1997) at West Middleton Lutheran Church on Madison's western edge. Since his retirement in 1997, he has been on the pastoral staff of Bethel where he serves part-time in the areas of worship and visitation.
Director Bethel Horizons
Pastor Duane Hanson was born and raised in southwestern Wisconsin and is a graduate of Luther College and Luther Seminary. He was called to Bethel Lutheran Church in l968 and named director of Bethel Horizons when it was incorporated in 1969.
His wife, Ruth, was a elementary school counselor in Sauk City, WI (now retired). He and Ruth have two children: Bjorn, attending Illinois Istitute of Technology in Chicago as a graduate student, and Solveig, a graduate of Grinnell College, an organic farmer near Postville, Iowa.
His involvement in the American Camp Association spans national, regional, and statewide involvement. Working in conjunction with Herb Brokering, he has led numerous trips to eastern Europe, the most recently in August of 2008. Pastor Hanson is planning another trip to Poland and Slovakia in 2012.
Evangelism & Mission
Pastor Sarah Harrold comes originally from Springfield, Nebraska, but has been making a tour of the Midwest (and world!) ever since. She graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls in 2005 with degrees in Religion and International Studies, and then completed seminary at Luther in St. Paul in 2009. One of her greatest passions is learning to cross boundaries between cultures and has studied and worked in St. Petersburg, Russia and Berlin, Germany, respectively.
At Bethel, Sarah's primary area is working with university students and young adults, and she's excited about it. Her hope is to continue to cross cultural boundaries by focusing on connecting the communities of Bethel, young adults, and Madison to allow us to innovate new ways of living faithful life together. On the side, though, she loves to play piano and sing, read, and explore Madison - while also learning to dance, speak Spanish, and hopefully one day to fly a plane!
Confirmation & Visitation
Pastor John Swanson was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, but spent most of his early years in Iowa, first in Des Moines and then in Bettendorf as the son of a Lutheran pastor. John graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois with a degree in Elementary Education. After working several jobs, including the position of Director of Christian Education and Youth at a Lutheran Church in Sterling, Illinois, he entered the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
During the summer between his first and second year in seminary John married Beth Miller in the summer of 1992. After seminary graduation and ordination, John was called to Bethel as an associate pastor in the summer of 1994.
Beth, who is a Speech Language Pathologist, works at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, where she supervises graduate students. She also has a private practice, working with children facing a variety of speech and language challenges. John and Beth have two children: Lydia, born in 1997, and Caleb, born in 2002.
John is an avid sports fan. His areas of ministry at Bethel include Confirmation and Visitation.
