Weekly Updates

Pastor – Rev. Gisele Berninghaus

Pastor Gisele Berninghaus is Lead Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Marshfield, WI. She worked for 13 years with Hands of Christ Deaf Ministry, an ecumenical ministry supported by ELCA, Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ and MethodistChurches. Her daughter Anastasia was born in Kankakee, IL where Gisele served American Lutheran Church and her son Nathaniel was born while she was serving congregations in Caribou and Stockholm, Maine.
 
Gisele graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, PA. She interned in Baltimore, MD, and was a teacher with the deaf in Des Moines, IA.
 
Tim Van Eyck met Gisele on a confusing mission trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and they have happily been attempting to sort things out ever since.

Pastor – Rev. Brian Beckstrom

Rev. Brian Beckstrom has served as Campus Pastor At Wartburg College since 2006. He teaches both Religion and Leadership courses at the College. Prior to Wartburg, Brian served a newly organized congregation in Suburban Phoenix.
 
Brian is currently completing his Doctor of ministry degree through Luther Seminary, focusing on the religious identity and mission of ELCA colleges in the 21st century. He also writes for the ELCA’s Living Lutheran website.
 
Pr. Beckstrom and his wife Josie have two kids, Soren (16) and Linea (13).

Pastor – Rev. Scott Benolkin

The Rev. Scott K. Benolkin is the pastor of the Valley Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois. He is a graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Syracuse University, and the University of Minnesota. Before hearing God’s call to the ministry of Word and Sacrament he worked as an economist for the EPA and the Federal Reserve. He enjoys computer programming, disc golf, and traveling with his wife Monica and five-year-old daughter Claire.

Pastor – Bishop Gerald Mansholt

Rev. Dr. Gerald Mansholt is the current bishop of the East Central Synod of the ELCA. He is married to Anita, a retired middle school math teacher. They have two married daughters, Christa and Monica along with four grand children.
 
In April the bishop and Anita traveled to Rustenberg, South Africa to participate in the consecration of the new bishop for the western diocese of the ELC of South Africa. Over 5,000 people attended a joy-filled worship service lasting over six hours!

Pastor – Rev. Mick Roschke

Pastor Mick is retired but still helps out at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Milwaukee’s inner city. Judy Roschke retired after thirty-seven years of teaching in Milwaukee.

Their son Micah and daughter Melissa are both social workers. Micahs’s wife Gloria is a teacher and Melissa’s husband Jeremy is a fire fighter. Both families have blessed Mick and Judy with two grandchildren each.

Pastor – Rev. Mick Roschke

Pastor Mick is retired but still helps out at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Milwaukee’s inner city. Judy Roschke retired after thirty-seven years of teaching in Milwaukee.
 
Their son Micah and daughter Melissa are both social workers. Micahs’s wife Gloria is a teacher and Melissa’s husband Jeremy is a fire fighter. Both families have blessed Mick and Judy with two grandchildren each.

Pastor – Rev. Karen Ullestad

Rev. Karen Ullestad currently serves as Pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa. As well as celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation all year, Zion will celebrate 155 years along the Mississippi River.

She previously served two congregations in Ohio. Prior to her years as a pastor she served as organist and music director at several Lutheran congregations.

Pastor – Rev. Harold Usgaard

Rev. Harold Usgaard was ordained a pastor in 1973. “Huck” has served at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin, MN; Mount Hope Lutheran Church in West Allis, WI; and Zumbro Lutheran church in Rochester, MN. In 2001, he was elected bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA, and he served two six-year terms.
 
Huck and his wife, Lynette, live in Rosemount, MN. They are proud parents to three grown children, Jennifer, Sara and Joshua, and two grandsons, Will and Owen. The Usgaard family first came to Bethany during their years in West Allis and are pleased to be invited back again in recent years.