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Pr. Mary Anderson

Pastoral Fellow

Pr. MARY ANDERSON

Pastor Mary Anderson (PMA) led St. Paul’s as pastor from January 1992—December 2001, and greatly enjoyed this congregation and the Evanston community.  She received her M.Div. from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and her Doctorate in Ministry from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.  She has served as a pastor for 44 years in rural and urban settings in the South Carolina Synod and the Metro Chicago Synod. She is now back home in Columbia, SC, living on the land that’s been in her family since 1752. She is now serving as a called interim pastor and is currently placed among the people at Pilgrim Lutheran in Lexington, SC, which is her fifth interim site. She volunteers in Columbia as a reading tutor to elementary school students and as the Chaplain at Transitions, a homeless recovery center. She has a strong on-line presence on her website mypocketpreacher.com , as well as a blog ("Ponder Anew") www.ponderanewpma.com and a podcast ("You're on Mute") on Spotify + Apple + Google.
 
Her husband, Frank, is pastor at her home congregation, St. Michael’s in Columbia. Daughter Colleen (42) is a geriatric nurse in Hickory, NC, and daughter Elise (37) is Pastor at St. John’s in Abingdon, VA. PMA is excited and grateful to be back at St. Paul’s among many friendly faces and many faithful folk.

Pastor of care & engagement

Pr. matt holmes

It is a great joy to have the Rev. Matthew Holmes as our longterm Pastor of Care & Engagement at St. Paul’s. In that role, Pr. Matt provides us pastoral care & counseling, clergy leadership for our ministries engaging with the St. Paul’s and larger Evanston-area communities, and weekly worship leadership in our Sunday morning services and Wednesday evening prayer. Pr. Matt is a 2010 graduate of The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and is ordained to Word & Sacrament in the ELCA.  After seminary, Pr. Matt worked as a chaplain, pastor and grief support specialist in several settings. He continues to serve (in addition to St. Paul’s) as an adjunct instructor of religious studies at Triton College and a paid-on-call firefighter/EMT with the village of LaGrange Park.


Matt is married to Rachel Wind, a former St. Paul's MIC student and another graduate of LSTC who works in development for the ELCA. They have two children, Hugh (12) and Louisa (9). In his free time, Matt is a prolific if rarely published writer and an avid amateur scholar of philosophy (his undergraduate major). Matt is the author of two published books Breath: 52 Reflections for those who Care for the Dying (Avenida Books, 2017), and coauthor with Rev. Thomas Gaulke of Everyday Armageddons: Stories and Reflections on Death, Dying, God and Waste (Cascade Books, 2023).

Formerly, Matt has worked as a commercial fisherman, nervous bouncer, short order cook, carny and plenty more.


Dr. Kurt westerberg, director of music

Kurt Westerberg has been privileged to serve as Director of Music at St. Paul’s since 1998, performing on piano and pipe organ, directing the St. Paul’s chancel choir, and arranging music for the choir as well as instrumental and vocal soloists.   He recently retired from the DePaul University School of Music, where he served as an Associate Professor of musicianship and composition and held several administrative posts.  He holds degrees from St. Olaf College and Northwestern University and has been active as a composer of modern classically-oriented music. 


Kurt, soloists, and choir aim for a blend of classical, gospel, and global music to meaningfully enhance the worship experience at St. Paul’s like

Come and Fill Our Hearts With Your Peace featuring soloists, choir, and cello.

Thank you for your generosity

Clicking the "offering plate" photo fuels St. Paul's and our ministries - learn more about them!


We believe our search for meaning in life falls hand in hand with a purposeful life.  At St. Paul's we believe that our work, worship, and prayers together allow the living Christ to meet us where we are and transform our lives.  Come join us as we discover ways to publicly share and live all of our gifts through God's Living Word.