The Rev. Dr. John Lottes has served as Pastor at Our Lord’s since 2007, and is continually thankful for the many helping hands and hearts that make this a unique and vibrant congregation.
He has previously been Pastor of congregations in Massachusetts and Missouri, served on the Pastoral Staff of Stephen Ministries in St. Louis, MO, and, most recently, been Campus Pastor at Lutheran Campus Ministry in St. Louis for 18 years.
The core of Pastor Lottes’ ministry is helping people feel welcome, nurturing their faith journeys, connecting their beliefs to daily living, and giving them freedom to explore questions about God, faith, and meaning in life.
He received his undergraduate education in the School of Business at Indiana University, his Master of Divinity degree at Concordia Seminary (St. Louis), his Master of Theology in New Testament at Harvard Divinity School, and his Doctor of Ministry degree at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
Pastor John has been married for more than 40 years to Victoria (Vicki); they are the parents of David and Joel, and are excited about being first-time grandparents. Pastor John endeavors to balance his life with walking and gym exercise, enjoying state parks and outdoor activities, following area sports, attending symphony concerts and movies, spending time with family and friends, playing Trivial Pursuit and non-competitive Scrabble, and taste-testing frozen custard (“Someone has to do it!” he claims).
Loretta Williams has served as the administrative assistant at Our Lord's since 1998 and has been a member since 1994. She came to the area from her home state of North Carolina, where she lived in several towns representing the geographic diversity for which the Tarheel state is known. She has been married for 28 years to Mike, and they have two grown children: Alex (and his wife Nicole) and Caitlyn, four lovable dogs and five cats. Loretta obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from Appalachian State University (Boone, NC), and a Master of Education degree from East Carolina University (Greenville, NC).
Loretta enjoys singing with the Our Lord’s praise band, beading and making jewelry, reading, gardening and hanging out with family.
Dana Gruber-Callahan joined the Our Lord's staff part-time in January 2010 to help the congregation transition to the Ministry Team organizational structure which emphasizes each person's God-given spiritual gifts. Dana serves as an ex-officio member of the Steering Team which involves helping members discover their spiritual gifts and helping them put their "passions into action." She feels strongly that as members of Our Lord's, we need to follow the Worship + 2 concept: every member should choose 2 activities, one to nurture the soul, and one to serve others, in addition to attending worship.
Another of Dana's duties is to take care of Our Lord's People Power. It takes the participation of a lot of people to be Fellowship Hosts, Greeters, Altar Guild Members, Assisting Ministers, Acolytes, Ushers, etc., to make sure the church functions smoothly. She believes that by having all OLLC members pitch in and take turns doing the jobs that make Our Lord's such a warm and welcoming place, we would only have to do the job once a quarter, thus reducing the burn-out rate.
Dana received a BS degree in political science and an elementary teaching certification from SIUE. She works for St. John Evangelical UCC in Collinsville as the Faith Hall program director and the Christian Education Coordinator.
She has been married to Mark since 1983 and they are the proud parents of two children, Emily, a sophomore at Murray State in KY, and Jacob, a senior at Collinsville High School. Dana is a charter kid of Our Lord's. She feels blessed to have such a loving church family which also includes her parents, siblings and their families, and her mother-in-law.
Christina Shields is a choral and general music education consultant for Shattinger Music in St. Louis, Missouri and Choir Director at Our Lord's. Dr. Shields earned both Master of Arts and Ph. D in Music Education from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and a Bachelor of Science in Theater and minor in music from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Dr. Shields has taught and directed choirs at every level in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
Dr. Shields has served as clinician at state MENC and ACDA conferences, choral adjudicator, and conductor of choral festivals through out the Midwest. Her research on mentoring and the importance of music in the lives of at-risk students has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education. As a church musician over the last 30 years she has directed adult, youth and children's choirs across denominations, but primarily in Lutheran Churches, both ELCA and Missouri Synod. Included in the activities of her choirs has been Christmas and Lenten Cantatas, Youth Musicals, and major works with orchestra including the Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria, Faure's Requiem, and Schubert's Mass in G.
In 2005, Dr. Shields moved to St. Louis and lives with her husband Terry, their collie, Bentley and Madeline the CAT.
Chery grew up in Nebraska, attended UCLA and NU, ending with a Master's in Philosophy. She taught philosophy at Central Missouri State University. She married her husband Gary in 1972, and has two children (John and Nathan). For 26 years, she has been working at Goodwill Industries as assistant to the President. Chery joined Our Lord's in 1981, and has been organist since 1983.
