TLC Council & Staff
Our Church Council consists of individuals who serve the congregation by meeting monthly (or more often as needed) to discuss and carefully make major decisions, oversee the smooth running of the congregation, serve on key subcommittees, and ensure that the church is fulfilling its mission.
Council members serve three year turns on the council. The current Trinity Church Council: (left to right) Pat Johnson, Holly Davison, Bill Read, John Villapudua, Pat Sasson, Lois Rothe, Gary Guernsey, Anne Dotson, Pastor Jim Lindus, Teri Schallock, Lynne Hossfeld and Mike Etzell.
Pastoral Staff: Trinity is blessed to have four retired or semi-retired pastors actively serving in our congregation, in addition to Pastor Jim Lindus.
Pastor Jim Lindus, Senior Pastor
Pastor Jim Lindus was born and raised in DeKalb, Illinois. After receiving an undergraduate degree in Education from Northern Illinois University, and after toying with the idea of a career in golf, Jim decided to follow a persistent calling to pastoral ministry.
He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN where he now serves on the Board of Directors.
From 1986 to 1989 he served at Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island, WA. He has been head pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church since October 1989.
Pastor Jim and his wife, Felicia, (a teacher in Trinity’s Preschool), have been married 29 years and are parents to three grown daughters.
As senior pastor, Pastor Jim preaches, teaches, provides pastoral care, helps define TLC’s vision, heads the church staff, and has fun living with God’s people. He believes in sharing the Gospel within the context of love, service and hospitality.
Pastor Dennis Hanson
Dennis Hanson pastored churches for 36 years until his retirement in 2000. Along with Pastors George and Eric, Pastor Dennis is frequently referred to as one of the “wise elders” at Trinity Church.
Pastor Dennis serves as part-time Visitation Pastor and preaches and teaches throughout the year. He and Pastor Eric team teach the Trinity’s New Members Classes which are held three times a year.
He received his BA from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN in 1960 and his M.Div. from Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN in 1964.
Pastor Dennis served as senior pastor of Christ Lutheran in Whitefish, MT from 1964-76; First Lutheran in Sandpoint, Idaho from 1976-1995; and Anacortes Lutheran in Anacortes, WA from 1995 until retirement in 2000. He and his wife, Geri, are also members of Trinity’s choir.
Pastor Eric Ottum
Pastor Eric teaches Trinity’s New Members Classes with Pastor Dennis. In addition to preaching several times a year, Pastor Eric leads a Wednesday morning Bible Study at TLC (which will study the Gospel of John beginning this September), serves on the committee for the Adult Education Classes (formerly the Adult Forum), and plans the Lenten Services. He and his wife, Kathleen, also sing in Trinity’s Choir. Pastor Eric served as a pastor for 40 years, 22 of which were in Alaska.
Pastor George Brunjes
Born and raised in New York, City, Pastor George has served in a variety of settings during his ministry, bouncing back and forth between the parish and hospice since his ordination in 1968. Starting out in the parish ministry in New York, he served in urban and suburban congregations, before accepting the position as the first Director of Pastoral Care and Bereavement for the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. He provided care to patients, their families and the hospice staff in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. As executive director, he has assisted four hospice programs through the lengthy Medicare licensure program and seen them develop from volunteer programs to providing the full range of care for the terminally ill in New York and California.
He currently serves as the Director of Senior Services here at TLC, providing twice monthly meals for the OWLs group, and planning for annual trips to local attractions. In addition, he teaches classes on a variety of subjects, (his ‘Walking Through the Old Testament’ class begins September 13), and he provides grief counseling for those who are experiencing a transitional period in their lives. In his free time he produces gourmet chocolates (chocolatesbygeorge), and is also a gourmet cook who delights members of Trinity’s OWLS luncheon with his culinary creations.
Pastor Jerry O’Neill
After celebrating 30 years of parish ministry in the Minneapolis Area Synod and now refreshed and renewed from a six-month leave, Pastor Jerry is the newest part-time Pastor to join Trinity’s staff. He will be heading a ‘soulful home’ ministry, seeking to aid in faith formation for all generations. A gifted writer, Pastor Jerry has his own blog at: http://wwwjroneill.blogspot.com/
He holds a B.S. Science from Seattle University, 1974; M. Div. Wartburg Seminary, 1980; Masters in Pastoral Care, Wartburg Seminary, 1985; D. Min. in Pastoral Leadership, Luther Seminary, 1999
Special Facilitation Training and Experience: Clinical Pastoral Education, hospital and hospice settings; Army Chaplain Training and 12 years service in reserves; Search Institute Vision-to-Action Training for parish and community collaborative long-range planning; Vibrant Faith Ministries (formerly Augsburg Youth Institute) “Hand-in-Hand” training for work with small groups and community church and home connections for spiritual development; Theophostic Prayer Facilitation Training; Poetry Therapy Training/Small Group Facilitation
Karl Olsen, Minister of Music
Minister of Music Karl Olsen oversees and coordinates the music program at Trinity, working with pastors, lay leaders and other congregation members. He directs “Splash!,” (a children’s choir), “Breaded Fish,” (Trinity’s worship band), and the Trinity Church Choir.
Karl has been a soloist for a variety of organizations and director of the Whidbey Island Madrigal and Motet Society, the Whidbey Island Chorale and one of the directors of the Sing!Chronicity Vocal Ensemble.
Karl holds an MA in Vocal/Choral Music and a Bachelor of Music Education (BME) from the University of Denver. He taught general music at The Bush School in Seattle, has been music director at three churches, and taught music at several elementary schools, including South Whidbey, Coupeville and Oak Harbor.
Karl has also produced two recordings, Heart of Mystery and This Love which are available for sale in the church office. He performs local concerts, sings with the sea shanty group, “The Shifty Sailors” , and also performs nationally and internationally with “The Brothers Four” folk singing group as its newest member. He is married to children’s author Deb Lund, and is the father of three children.
Robin Edgeman, Parish Manager
As Parish Manager, Robin is the one who keeps the congregation running smoothly by working tirelessly, often ‘behind the scenes’ at Trinity. She has been Parish Manager since 1993 and a member of Trinity since 1991. She works closely with congregation and staff to ensure the smooth running of the church office and assists the members and pastors with communication, lay ministry and worship. Robin also does the scheduling for church facility use.
Carol Gannaway, Sunday School Superintendent
Kristi Etzell, Trinity Youth Group Coordinator
Kristi attended the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN, where she received her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education. Teaching brought her to the Northwest in 1989 and she decided to stay, as “You don’t have to shovel the rain.” In 1994, Kristi became a licensed massage practitioner and sees health & wellness– in body, mind and spirit– as her true calling.
Being able to impact our young people in a positive way as a youth coordinator, offering fun in a Christian atmosphere, is a gift she wishes to give back, knowing her church community helped her and many of her friends navigate the teen years. She and husband, Mike, are both Minnesota natives and are honored to call Whidbey Island “home”. They have 4 amazing children, Benjamin, 16, Marisa & Lucas, 14, and Nicholas,11.
Lana Johnson, Volunteer Coordinator
As Volunteer Coordinator, Lana schedules all the volunteers that help make our Sunday services run smoothly. She also maintains the church’s membership database, sends out email announcements, and does the supply orders for the office. In her other job, she teaches math to middle and high school students at Whidbey Island Academy. Lana and her husband Mike have two grown daughters.
Lana provides the orientation for TLC’s popular Coffee Server Orientation & Tips Video.
Linda Nevermann, Bell Choir & Brass Director
Linda Abegglen Nevermann grew up in the small town of Monroe, Wisconsin. She was fully involved in all aspects of music and gave private cornet/trumpet lessons for several years before moving to Rockford, Illinois where she graduated from high school and attended Rock Valley College. She joined the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps as a horn soloist and stayed with that program until she “aged-out” at 21, becoming an assistant instructor in horns, percussion, and marching. She traveled in the Midwest teaching an adult hornline in Racine, Wisconsin and junior drum & bugle corps in Illinois.
After moving to Washington state in 1982, her love of music took her into the local schools as a volunteer in bands. That passion drew her into the music program at TLC, in 1998, where she started teaching handbell choirs and a brass ensemble. Music is an expression of faith for her. She is challenged to tell that story by shaping it with dynamics and techniques to help the worship experience be more meaningful for the congregation.
Linda also identifies strongly with her Swiss heritage and plays Alphorn occasionally at TLC, Vancouver Island, Swiss Society, weddings, graduations, and memorial services.
Linda is Chairman of Adult Education and enjoys the creativeness that allows for scheduling quality adult programs. Throughout the year Linda works on decorations for Vacation Bible School. The narthex display invites young and old to enjoy the lighter side of Bible stories our children hear during the summer.
Linda has been married to her husband Jim for 32 years and they have two adult children, a son and daughter.
Dee Brown, Organist & Accompanist
Dee serves as organist and accompanist for Trinity’s 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services where she enjoys playing the church’s Rodgers 905 3-manual classical organ and the Steinway grand piano.
Growing up in a musical family on a farm in Nebraska, she follows in the footsteps of her mother, who was a decades-long pianist in a Lutheran parish. After piano lessons and undergraduate organ and musical training at Bethany Lutheran College in Lindsborg, Kansas, Dee served as organist at churches in northern Kansas, Christ The King Mediator in Chicago, and was children’s choir director at St. Timothy’s in San Jose, CA. A TLC member since 1984, Dee became TLC’s organist in 2006 and is inspired by Trinity’s previous organists: Margaret Spadlin and Win Ewing.
Dee holds a B.A. degree in Social Science education, an MA in school counseling, and is the Registrar at South Whidbey High School. Previously she was a marketing consultant and owner/manager of a travel agency. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Tom, and their five grown children.
Laura Canby, Creative Media/Technology Coordinator
As part-time technology and creative media coordinator, Laura does the sound and video recordings for the 8 a.m. Sunday worship service (Will Habel does sound for the latter services) and is TLC’s webmaster and Facebook page coordinator. She holds a B.S. degree in Journalism, Public Relations and Communications from Pacific Union College. After an 18-year career in hospital and healthcare public relations, she became a freelancer when her husband was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor. She now works primarily with nonprofits such as Good Cheer, Helping Hand, and Senior Services on South Whidbey where she uses her skills in marketing communications, writing, editing, publications, web design, photography, and a developing interest in video.
One of her special interests is in using digital media as a means of communicating the Gospel and helping Christians share their faith journeys with one another. She enjoys just being with her husband and son, and also enjoys writing poetry, salmon fishing, spiritual books, interesting movies, theological conversations, and travel.
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