Weekly Updates

Pastor - Rev. Gisele Berninghaus

Pastor Gisele Berninghaus served Faith Lutheran in Marshfield, WI until her retirement in 2021. She worked for 13 years with Hands of Christ Deaf Ministry, an ecumenical ministry supported by ELCA, Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ and Methodist churches. Her daughter, Anastasia, was born in Kankakee, IL where Gisele served American Lutheran Church and her son Nathaniel was born while she served congregations in Caribou and Stockholm, Maine. Gisele graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, PA. She interned in Baltimore MD, and was a teacher with the Deaf in DesMoines, IA.

Tim Van Eyck met Gisele on a confusing mission trip to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina and they have happily been sharing life's challenges and blessings ever since. Retirement includes learning building skills while volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, learning about horses while helping kids with special needs at an Equine Therapy Center and the joys of new relationships working with refugee resettlement.

Pastor - Rev. Gisele Berninghaus

Pastor Gisele Berninghaus served Faith Lutheran in Marshfield, WI until her retirement in 2021. She worked for 13 years with Hands of Christ Deaf Ministry, an ecumenical ministry supported by ELCA, Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ and Methodist churches. Her daughter, Anastasia, was born in Kankakee, IL where Gisele served American Lutheran Church and her son Nathaniel was born while she served congregations in Caribou and Stockholm, Maine. Gisele graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, PA. She interned in Baltimore MD, and was a teacher with the Deaf in DesMoines, IA.

Tim Van Eyck met Gisele on a confusing mission trip to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina and they have happily been sharing life's challenges and blessings ever since. Retirement includes learning building skills while volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, learning about horses while helping kids with special needs at an Equine Therapy Center and the joys of new relationships working with refugee resettlement.

Pastor - Rev. Gerald Mansholt

Pastor Jerry Mansholt and wife Anita live in Appleton, Wisconsin and are members of First English Lutheran Church. Jerry has served as a parish pastor in Oklahoma, St. Louis, and Wichita, Kansas. Later he served as bishop, both in the ELCA Central States Synod (Missouri/Kansas) and the ELCA East Central Synod of Wisconsin. Since leaving the office of bishop Jerry has served as interim pastor in Mandeville, Louisiana; Green Bay and Sheboygan,Wisconsin. He currently serves on two Boards of Directors: Wartburg Seminary and the We Raise Foundation.

Pastor - Rev. Gerald Mansholt

Pastor Jerry Mansholt and wife Anita live in Appleton, Wisconsin and are members of First English Lutheran Church. Jerry has served as a parish pastor in Oklahoma, St. Louis, and Wichita, Kansas. Later he served as bishop, both in the ELCA Central States Synod (Missouri/Kansas) and the ELCA East Central Synod of Wisconsin. Since leaving the office of bishop Jerry has served as interim pastor in Mandeville, Louisiana; Green Bay and Sheboygan,Wisconsin. He currently serves on two Boards of Directors: Wartburg Seminary and the We Raise Foundation.

Pastor - Rev. Ben Nelson

Pastor Ben Nelson serves way over yonder on the western side of the state at Zion Lutheran Church in Woodville. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife Megan in a small house full of pets, and in his free time they enjoy a good meal at a nice restaurant, gardening, and taking advantage of the outdoors. Ben and Megan honeymooned in Door County and are excited to have the excuse and opportunity to be back in a place they hold dear with family and friends.

Pastor - Rev. Troy Troftgruben

Troy is an ordained ELCA pastor who serves as Associate Professor of New Testament at Wartburg Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 2013. Before that, he served for five years as a pastor at Calvary Lutheran church in Grand Forks, ND. A graduate of Luther Seminary (M.Div.) and Princeton Seminary (Ph.D), Troy’s areas of focus are Luke and Acts and early church communities. He has written Rooted and Renewing: Imagining the Church's Future in Light of Its NT Origins (Fortress, 2019) and Bearing Witness in Acts and Today (Cascade, 2025). Troy also contributes regularly to Augsburg's Sundays and Seasons: Preaching.

By vocation, Troy sees himself as a pastor with a specialized call: the spiritual formation of church leaders. He is married to Maria, and together they have two children in high school. On Sabbath time, Troy enjoys playing music in a local band, biking, being outdoors, and practicing the discipline of hope by following Minnesota sports teams and the Chicago Cubs.

Pastor - Rev. Larry Pinnow

Pastor Larry Pinnow grew up on a farm south of Brodhead, Wi. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Luther College, Bachelor of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, a Master of Sacred Theology and a Doctor of Ministry from Wartburg Seminary.

Larry served congregations in Racine, Monroe and Madison. Since retirement he has served 12 congregations as an Interim.

Larry has been married to Mary for 32 years. He has three children with his first wife who died of cancer, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

He loves to read history, travel and enjoy their house on the north side of Madison.

A Joyful Noise

Lori Free and Val Bartlein will be showcasing our new organ with all the features and instrumentation it can bring. Along with the concert we will have a sing along and a joyful finale with a children's choir and others. A Joyful Noise will be from 6-7:00 PM with festive refreshments from Alexander's to follow.

Pastor - Rev. Larry Pinnow

Pastor Larry Pinnow grew up on a farm south of Brodhead, Wi. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Luther College, Bachelor of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, a Master of Sacred Theology and a Doctor of Ministry from Wartburg Seminary.

Larry served congregations in Racine, Monroe and Madison. Since retirement he has served 12 congregations as an Interim.

Larry has been married to Mary for 32 years. He has three children with his first wife who died of cancer, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

He loves to read history, travel and enjoy their house on the north side of Madison.

Rev. Heidi Johns

Pastor Heidi grew up on the western end of Michigan's upper peninsula near Lake Superior, which means you can call her a Yooper! She attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and was ordained in 1991. Her first call was in rural North Dakota, near Devil's Lake. She then moved to Milwaukee and served at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Menomonee Falls. From there she moved to the suburbs of Chicago and served at Faith Lutheran in Glen Ellyn. Finally, she moved to Cincinnati in 2014 to serve at Good Shepherd, and then retired from there in 2022. Heidi and her husband Chris were married in June of 2021. Chris has two grown sons, one lives in Wauwatosa and is married with four children. The other son is engaged and lives in Cincinnati. After Heidi retired in May of 2022, she and Chris purchased a travel trailer and began traveling part-time. She continues to do Interim ministry around the Cincinnati area. Heidi is grateful to be with us at Bethany today!