Weekly Updates

Pastor - Rev. Harold Usgaard

The Rev. Harold “Huck” Usgaard is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He retired in 2018 after most recently serving as Assistant to the President for Church Relations at Portico Benefit Services, a ministry of the ELCA.

Huck is Bishop Emeritus of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, having served two six-year terms between 2001 and 2013. Prior to that, he had served as a pastor at Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN; at Mt. Hope Lutheran Church in West Allis, WI; and at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin, MN. He holds degrees from Luther College and Luther Seminary, and was ordained a pastor in 1973.

Huck and his wife, Lynette, live in Rosemount, MN. They are proud parents to three grown children and two grandsons. This means that much of their time is spent attending their grandsons’ basketball games, soccer matches, and concerts… as well as providing dog sitting services for the family. And they couldn’t be happier.

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 most recently 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.

Diane’s greatest joy is delighting in her Guatemalan-American family. Most recently she and her husband, Esturado, cheered on their son, Brian, as he graduated from the Unviersity of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana and began an exciting engineering career with Boeing. Estuardo and Diane also celebrate their daughter’s work in Peace Studies at DePaul and as she serves as a Vaccination Ambassador, encouraging peers to get COVID-19 vaccinations. The Dardón family enjoys travel and especially leading mission and immersion trips to Estuardo’s home in Guatemala where they have worked with hundreds of students in building or supporting schools, houses, libraries, orphanages and senior care centers.

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. 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.