Jeff Kidder has led Messiah’s Music Ministry since 1991. He is grateful for his family heritage of music and Christian worship, which provided roots for his own ministry and faith renewal, rekindled when he began attending Messiah in 1989. Jeff's main work is to plan and lead music for Sunday worship and other services, working closely with Paul Johnson (Music Minister, organ/keyboard). Jeff directs the Festival Choir, leads the Worship Arts Committee and coordinates music and worship for the community, offering resources and supporting activities in a variety of contexts (adults, youth and children, small groups, etc.). 

Jeff also ministers in other contexts, notably at St. Matthew’s in St. Paul and in the wider Episcopal Church in Minnesota as a worship/music leader, consultant and trainer for Diocesan events and congregations (Spirit of the Wilderness, Grand Marais and Holy Apostles, St. Paul among others). 

Jeff is married to Kristen (who first brought him to Messiah), teaches private guitar students, enjoys performing for special events, spending time with his grown sons and grandchildren, bicycling and other outdoor recreation.

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Paul came to Messiah in 2002 after graduating from St. Olaf College. After working with Messiah’s Youth as an intern and volunteer he became the Music Assistant in 2004, and was Interim Youth Coordinator in 2011.  Paul has been the Youth Director since 2018, as well as Music Minister.  He plays keyboard instruments, leads vocals, and partners with Jeff Kidder in the leadership of Messiah’s Music Ministry. Paul became a Christian as a senior in high school and is passionate about encouraging the faith of young people. His wife Libby grew up attending Messiah. They have three boys, Gibbie, Ezra, and William. He is also an award-winning fine art photographer and has been a missioner to St. Martin’s by the Lake.

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Lori and her husband Doug started attending Messiah in 1988 and she began serving as Messiah’s coordinator for children’s ministry in 2012. Her past ministry commitments include campus ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois and Carleton College. Her theological interests include bible exegesis and family faith formation. Lori has a master’s degree in English from Texas A & M University and a biology degree from Harvard. The mother of four adult children, Lori relishes the joys of family life, reading Tolstoy and Austen, baking bread, and running.

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Rev.  Chris started her Curacy at Messiah in October 2020 and will be focusing on administration, management, mission and ministry. Rev. Chris graduated from Oberlin college with a major in geology. She had a 20 year professional career in environmental consulting before following a call to ordained ministry. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA and was ordained to the priesthood in June 2020. She served as healing ministry coordinator at St. Luke's in Minneapolis prior to seminary and served at St. Martin's By-the-Lake in Minnetonka Beach prior to joining Messiah. Rev. Chris lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two children and enjoys her numerous pets, camping, being outdoors, cooking, and reading. 

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The connections coordinator responds to callers, congregation, and clergy, complies reports, assists in financial record keeping, and provides support for ministries. Karen and her family came to Messiah in 1999 and she started in her current position at the beginning of 2018. Karen worked in the Registration Office of the Extension School at the University of Minnesota for a number of years before being an assistant to Edith Schaeffer and later homeschooling her children. Karen lives in Saint Paul and loves spending time on the North Shore. She is an avid reader of literature and participates in two book groups.

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Judy has served as deacon at Messiah since she was ordained and assigned here by Bishop Brian Prior in 2013. She had attended Messiah with her family for more than a decade before that. The ministry of vocational deacons is entirely voluntary. Besides her liturgical role on Sunday mornings Judy carries out a ministry among our Karen parishioners.

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In May, 2001, George Slanger retired from 30-year career as an English professor and administrator at Minot State University in North Dakota. That same month, he was ordained as an Episcopal Priest in All Saints Episcopal Church in Minot, where he served as a volunteer Assisting Priest until 2011, when he moved to Lakeville. He and his wife Joanne have four grown children. Their daughter, Julie Saxton, and her husband, Paul, are also members at Messiah.

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