Messiah Lutheran Church

   I grew up in Northeastern New Jersey about ½ hour out of New York City.  I went to Concordia College in Bronxville, New York and majored in History.  I attended the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pa. from 1981-1985.  I did Internship at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pa.  I met my wife Sherry in Gettysburg and we were married in July of 1983. 

   Our first call in ministry was to Christ Lutheran in Loganville, Pa. from 1985-1991.  We were then called to Faith Lutheran in Jacksonville, Fl. from 1991-1996.  We, then, were called to Christus Victor in Naples, Fl. from 1996-2022 until I retired.  I became the Interim Pastor at Christ Lutheran, Cape Coral in 2023.  My wife, Sherry, and I now live in Magnolia Landing in North Fort Myers and we are both excited to be in ministry with the faithful at Messiah Lutheran.  It’s an honor to be in Christ’s service with you all through this time of transition.

A native of New Jersey, Scott has lived in Florida since 2003 and he has been a member of MLC since 2008. Scott began serving Messiah Lutheran Church as Parish Administrator in January of 2017. He brings a wealth of experience in Church Administration to the parish office having served in various parish and Christian college offices for over ten years. He obtained an A.A. degree with a specialization in Liberal Arts from Ocean County College in 2000 followed in 2002 by a B.A. in Religious Studies with a minor in Philosophy from Felician University, both in New Jersey.  He has completed coursework toward a Master's Degree in Religious Education and spent the final two years of his college career in College Seminary while discerning a call to the priesthood. He and Al currently reside in North Fort Myers FL.

Scott was commissioned as a Synod Parish Deacon in the Florida Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in November of 2019. With the departure of Pastor Richard Leseganich in January of 2024, Scott was placed on the inactive list of Synod Parish Deacons. On May 5, 2024, he was re-instated as Synod Parish Deacon, with the permission of Bishop Pedro Suarez, to serve concurrent with Pastor Tom Slater's term as interim pastor.

Pam became a member of Messiah soon after relocating from Columbus, Ohio in 2023. A farm girl, she began playing the organ in her home church, St. James Lutheran Church in Archbold, Ohio when she was fifteen. She attended Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Wright State University, and Ashland University, where she earned her doctorate in Special Education. Prior to retiring, she worked as a speech/language pathologist, teacher of the gifted, adjunct professor, and regional manager for an employment agency. In her spare time, she crochets baby blankets for charity. Pam and her husband, Tom, enjoy traveling to spend time with their six children and fifteen grandchildren. She looks forward to continuing to support the strong musical tradition and ministry at Messiah.

ane is a native of southwest Ohio, born in Springfield and raised in Dayton. Her early music training began in the Lutheran church, where she sang in the choir and studied organ in high school, eventually playing the early service at her home church, Messiah Lutheran, Dayton, OH. She majored in Music Education at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH-with an emphasis in organ study-and played throughout college at several Bowling Green area churches. Upon graduation, she began her teaching career in Toledo, OH and then returned to the Dayton area and was employed by Carlisle Local Schools, in the Dayton area, as a middle school music teacher until retirement. Her music teaching duties included general music, directing vocal choirs and for the last fifteen years at Carlisle, directing an 8th grade handbell choir, which was one of the highlights of her teaching career. During those thirty years of teaching, she continued to serve as an organist at several Lutheran churches in the Dayton area, and also finished a Master's Degree in Music Education at Wright State University, Dayton, OH. Upon retirement, she and her husband Carl moved to southwest Florida-the Ft. Myers area, where they have been permanent residents for the past ten years. Musically speaking-in addition to singing/directing and playing organ, Jane also enjoys playing handbells with an area group called Ring Sarasota.  When not doing something musical, she enjoys boating, water skiing, swimming, jogging, biking, walking and dogsitting her friends' dogs, international travel and most especially spending time with her son and his fiance and their two sweet dogs in Cincinnati OH.  Ironically, she has come full circle, back to Messiah Lutheran-this time in Cape Coral Fl. instead of Dayton, OH. She and her husband visited Messiah often with her parents while visiting them in Fl., and after becoming full-time Floridians themselves, joined Messiah in 2014. At present, she and her colleague Pam Danklefsen share the organist duties at Messiah, and Jane is also serving as interim choir director. Serving at Messiah is both spiritually and musically rewarding and an unanticipated blessing in retirement.     

Judith King serves as director of handbell music at Messiah Lutheran Church. Originally from Vermont, Judith is a member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringing, has rung handbells for over 30 years and was a charter member of the Southwest Florida Handbell Ensemble. In 2013 Judith attended the International Handbell Symposium in Liverpool, Great Britain. While in England she participated in ringing at a tower bell rehearsal at St. Michael's Anglican Church in Garston. Earlier this year Judith traveled throughout Ireland and Scotland visiting several cathedrals, some with handbell choirs and/or tower bell choirs. She had the privilege of accompanying the bell ringers in the tower at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland to toll the bells for Sunday services. While in central Scotland she participated in a handbell rehearsal in Dunkeld and attended the Dunblane Cathedral ringers handbell concert featuring their three versatile advanced choirs. Judith plays tenor drum for the Harp and Thistle Bagpipe Band from Naples, Florida, which placed first in the state of Florida 2015 Highland Games. Judith also plays mountain dulcimer and is a member of the Southwest Florida Dulcimer club. Judith enjoys reading, English Country dancing, Contra dancing and has achieved the three levels of the Florida Master Naturalist program.

Ms. Carmen has been the director of Kid's Connection since 2007, and before that was assistant director for 3 years.  She has a Bachelor's Degree in psychology and sociology, and an associate's degree in Human Services and Early Childhood Development.

Ms. Carmen is married and has three children and six grandchildren.