Weekly Updates

Pastor - Rev. Harold Usgaard

Rev. Harold “Huck” is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He holds degrees from Luther College and Luther Seminary, and was ordained a pastor in 1973.

He served as a pastor at Zumbro Lutheran in Rochester, MN; Mt. Hope Lutheran in West Allis, WI; and St. Olaf Lutheran in Austin, MN. Between 2001 and 2013, Huck was elected to two terms as Bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod. Prior to retirement in 2018, he served as Assistant to the President for Church Relations at Portico Benefit Services, a ministry of the ELCA.

Huck and his wife, Lynette, live in Rosemount, MN, with their three adult children and three grandsons living close by… perfect for attending games, concerts, family gatherings, and dog sitting.

Bethany Lutheran and Door County have been a valued summer experience for the whole family over a number of years. Activities shared and relationships renewed have been a blessing.

Pastor - Rev. Harold Usgaard

Rev. Harold “Huck” is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He holds degrees from Luther College and Luther Seminary, and was ordained a pastor in 1973.

He served as a pastor at Zumbro Lutheran in Rochester, MN; Mt. Hope Lutheran in West Allis, WI; and St. Olaf Lutheran in Austin, MN. Between 2001 and 2013, Huck was elected to two terms as Bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod. Prior to retirement in 2018, he served as Assistant to the President for Church Relations at Portico Benefit Services, a ministry of the ELCA.

Huck and his wife, Lynette, live in Rosemount, MN, with their three adult children and three grandsons living close by… perfect for attending games, concerts, family gatherings, and dog sitting.

Bethany Lutheran and Door County have been a valued summer experience for the whole family over a number of years. Activities shared and relationships renewed have been a blessing.

Pastor - Rev. Dennis Ellisen

A native New Yorker, Pastor Ellisen received his college degree at Upsala College in New Jersey. Prior to receiving his Master of Divinity degree at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, he was a social worker in New York City. He served congregations in Rochester, and Albany, N.Y. before accepting a call to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Appleton,Wisconsin in 1976. During his tenure, Our Saviour’s grew in membership to 2600 members. Pastor Ellisen has served on the executive board of the Large Church Conference of the ELCA. Since retirement in 2008, he has served as an Interim Pastor for the East Central Synod in various congregations. He has recently retired.

Pastor Ellisen and his wife Cathy have 4 children and 8 grandchildren. They enjoy traveling, golfing, and watching the grandchildren participate at TCU for soccer and UConn for baseball. They also enjoy quiet sunsets at their cottage on the bay outside of Dycksville.

Pastor - Rev. Janel Kuester

Pastor Janel Kuester has been serving in a small town-rural congregation on the Minnesota prairie – Christ Lutheran Church in Cottonwood – for six years. She served three other congregations in the Saint Paul Area Synod as an ordained Pastor and one as a lay leader, prior to moving back closer to home. She is a second career pastor with an elementary teaching degree where she taught for several years before moving to adult learners for eight years when she worked at a corporate company offering computer and soft skill training courses. During seminary, she worked at the State of Minnesota Board of Barbers and Cosmetologist Examiner’s office as a Database Project Manager and built her own small HR and Bookkeeping business. Almost every evening, you will find her out taking Prairie Sunset photos and in the summer digging in her perennial and vegetable garden.

Pastor - Rev. Diane Dardon

Rev. Dr. Diane Dardón is the Director of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care at DePaul University in Chicago where she also serves as the university’s Protestant Chaplain. Diane received her Doctorate of Ministry Degree in Ecumenism from Catholic Theological Union (Chicago) and is a graduate in the Masters of Divinity program from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Prior to taking on responsibilities at DePaul, she served for several years as parish pastor but her true ministry passion is within the academic setting, having served as campus pastor at Northern Illinois University and at the University of Northern Iowa prior to her time at DePaul. Diane is also faculty at Emmaus Accademy in Naples, FL, and recently became certified in spiritual direction.

Diane’s greatest joy is delighting in her Guatemalan-American family and accompanying her children as they begin their careers. Diane and her husband, Esturado, have two children: Brian who is currently in St. Louis, working as an engineer in the aerospace field at Boeing and Cathryn who is pursuing studies for a career in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity at DePaul Univerity while also serving as an executive officer for DePaul’s Student Government Association. The Dardón family enjoys travel and tries to spend time each year with Estuardo’s family in Guatemala.

Pastor - Rev. Diane Dardon

Rev. Dr. Diane Dardón is the Director of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care at DePaul University in Chicago where she also serves as the university’s Protestant Chaplain. Diane received her Doctorate of Ministry Degree in Ecumenism from Catholic Theological Union (Chicago) and is a graduate in the Masters of Divinity program from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Prior to taking on responsibilities at DePaul, she served for several years as parish pastor but her true ministry passion is within the academic setting, having served as campus pastor at Northern Illinois University and at the University of Northern Iowa prior to her time at DePaul. Diane is also faculty at Emmaus Accademy in Naples, FL, and recently became certified in spiritual direction.

Diane’s greatest joy is delighting in her Guatemalan-American family and accompanying her children as they begin their careers. Diane and her husband, Esturado, have two children: Brian who is currently in St. Louis, working as an engineer in the aerospace field at Boeing and Cathryn who is pursuing studies for a career in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity at DePaul Univerity while also serving as an executive officer for DePaul’s Student Government Association. The Dardón family enjoys travel and tries to spend time each year with Estuardo’s family in Guatemala.

Pastor - Rev. Michael Brecke

Michael Brecke was born in Ashland, Wisconsin, in 1946. He grew up in Mellen, Wisconsin, and graduated from high school in 1964. Received his B.S. degree from Wisconsin State University River Falls (1968), a Master’s of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School(1971), a Master’s of Sacred Theology from Concordia Seminary (1972), St. Louis and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (1993).

His parallel education was received from the Penokee Veneer Mill, Allis Chalmers Foundry, Mellen Weekly Record, Mellen Country Club (where he dug ditches), and numerous other jobs to make enough money to support his habit of education. He entered ordained ministry in the Lutheran Church Missiouri Synod in 1973. Became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1989.

He lost his wife Elizabeth “Betsy” Titterington in 2018. He has two children, Matthew and Anna.

Over the years he has written for several publications including community newspapers in Albany, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas, and Door County, Wisconsin. He is frequent contributor to The Echo a publication effort in conjunction with Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. The Echo is devoted to telling the stories of our past.

He has served as a transitional minister in the Central States Synod, ELCA. He also started a homeless ministry called The Listening Post in 2016. Currently he still does some of his homeless ministry in the River Market Area of Kansas City, Missouri. He is also involved in Write On Door County and annually teaches a class on writing.

Pastor - Rev. Michael Brecke

Michael Brecke was born in Ashland, Wisconsin, in 1946. He grew up in Mellen, Wisconsin, and graduated from high school in 1964. Received his B.S. degree from Wisconsin State University River Falls (1968), a Master’s of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School(1971), a Master’s of Sacred Theology from Concordia Seminary (1972), St. Louis and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (1993).

His parallel education was received from the Penokee Veneer Mill, Allis Chalmers Foundry, Mellen Weekly Record, Mellen Country Club (where he dug ditches), and numerous other jobs to make enough money to support his habit of education. He entered ordained ministry in the Lutheran Church Missiouri Synod in 1973. Became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1989.

He lost his wife Elizabeth “Betsy” Titterington in 2018. He has two children, Matthew and Anna.

Over the years he has written for several publications including community newspapers in Albany, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas, and Door County, Wisconsin. He is frequent contributor to The Echo a publication effort in conjunction with Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. The Echo is devoted to telling the stories of our past.

He has served as a transitional minister in the Central States Synod, ELCA. He also started a homeless ministry called The Listening Post in 2016. Currently he still does some of his homeless ministry in the River Market Area of Kansas City, Missouri. He is also involved in Write On Door County and annually teaches a class on writing.

Pastor - Rev. Clare Cheney Sedlacek

Pastor Clare Cheney Sedlacek is the pastor at Dr. Martin Luther Church in Oconomowoc. She is a graduate of Oconomowoc High School and the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Pastor Clare has previously been a high school teacher and coach and also worked in the television industry.

She received a Master of Arts degree in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry from Luther Seminary in 2010, and served as the Children’s Ministry Director at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin for eleven years.

Pastor Clare graduated from Luther Seminary in May 2020. Prior to being ordained, she served as Bridge Pastor for Living Hope Lutheran and Christ the King Lutheran in Ozaukee County. She was ordained and installed at Dr. Martin Luther Church in Oconomowoc on May 22, 2021.

Pastor Clare and her husband Jim reside in Oconomowoc. Their daughter, Anne, is a 2023 graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Bishop Anne Edison-Albright

The Rev. Anne Edison-Albright serves as bishop of the East Central Synod of Wisconsin. She previously served as Director of College Ministries and College Pastor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and as pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

She’s been a regular writer and curriculum editor for Augsburg Fortress and Sparkhouse since 2008. Bishop Anne loves opportunities to connect her current ministry with experiences from teaching high school English; her time as a short term missionary in China and Slovakia; and a year of residency as a hospital chaplain.

The Edison-Albrights–Anne, Sean, Walter (11) and Sally (9)– live in Appleton, Wisconsin and are members of Christ the King in Combined Locks.