Weekly Updates

Pastor - Rev. Michael Brecke

Michael Brecke was born in Ashland, Wisconsin, in 1946. He grew up in Mellen, Wisconsin, 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 education also included the jobs he held at: 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 has served churches in Georgia, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Over the years he has written for newspapers and a variety of local and regional publications.

Pastor - Rev. David Zersen

David Zersen has been a Lutheran pastor in three congregations in northern Illinois (Midlothian, St. Charles and Itasca). Additionally, he served as Dean at Concordia University Wisconsin and as President of Concordia University Texas.

He and his wife, Julie, live in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, close to their children and grandchildren who live in Menomonee Falls and Sussex, Wisconsin. Dr. Zersen enjoys writing and landscape painting. His wife is a teacher and church musician who enjoys tending her flower garden and keeping up with four grandchildren. Both enjoy travel, although the past year has put a damper on that as it has on all of us.

Pastor - Rev. Emily Tveite

Rev. Emily Tveite has served as the Campus Pastor and Director at Lutheran Campus Ministry in Madison, Wisconsin since 2015. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas and earned her undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She completed her seminary studies at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She served as intern at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Vancouver, Washington. The experience of working in the Pacific Northwest inspired her passion for journeying with those new to the Christian faith and equipped her for working in a climate of declining religiosity. Pastor Emily is married to Paul, a software engineer at Google. They are parents to three-year-old Eleanor and almost-one-year-old Vera. The Tveites enjoy cooking and baking, reading, playing board games, and going for family bike rides.

Pastor - Rev. Emily Tveite

Rev. Emily Tveite has served as the Campus Pastor and Director at Lutheran Campus Ministry in Madison, Wisconsin since 2015. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas and earned her undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She completed her seminary studies at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She served as intern at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Vancouver, Washington. The experience of working in the Pacific Northwest inspired her passion for journeying with those new to the Christian faith and equipped her for working in a climate of declining religiosity. Pastor Emily is married to Paul, a software engineer at Google. They are parents to three-year-old Eleanor and almost-one-year-old Vera. The Tveites enjoy cooking and baking, reading, playing board games, and going for family bike rides.