L-R: Susan Smith, Administrative Assistant; John Allen, Associate to the Bishop;
    Bishop Jessica Crist; Dave Peters, Director for Mission; Susan Hedahl, Executive Assistant

The Bishop:   The Rev. Jessica Crist is Bishop of the Montana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  A resident of Great Falls, she is married to Turner Graybill, a retired attorney.  They have two children—Rhiannon, who is a doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at UC Berkeley, and Raphael, who is an undergraduate in political science at Columbia.

Prior to assuming the office of Bishop, Pastor Crist served as Associate to the Bishop for 5 years, and Director of the Northern Rockies Institute of Theology for 18 years.  She served congregations in Great Falls, Montana, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and started in ministry as a campus pastor.  She served on the Transition Team that helped put together the Montana Synod from the predecessor churches, and was elected Synod Secretary at the Constituting Convention.  She served in that capacity for 12 years.  She has worked with the Montana Association of Churches for many years, including serving as president, and as part of the teaching staff for the Lay Ministry Institute.

“I am honored to serve as the Bishop of the Montana Synod.  As I travel the Synod and visit your congregations and ministries I get to function as an ambassador.  I get to meet you and listen to your stories.  And I get to share the story of the wider church with you.  I pray for every congregation and every pastor and AIM each week.  And I hope you will join me in praying for the whole church.” 

The Associate to the Bishop:   Associate to the Bishop:  The Rev. John D. Allen accepted a call to the position of Associate to the Bishop of the Montana Synod of the ELCA effective March 16, 2009.

Rev. Allen has been pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Great Falls since April of 1996. He also served at Bethlehem Lutheran in Kalispell, Saco, Hinsdale, and Hope Lutheran in Anaconda. Rev. Allen was ordained in the former American Lutheran Church in 1979.  Rev. Allen is also a Chaplain, Lt. Col., serving the Montana Air National Guard since 1990.

Rev. Allen received a BA in Christian Religion from California Lutheran University in 1975 and an M.Div. from Luther Theological Seminary in 1979. He is married to the former Ruth Wagnild and has three children, Julie, Cynthia and Jim.

Rev. Allen will serve as Associate to Bishop Jessica Crist, and his duties will include candidacy, mobility, administration, outreach, working with congregations, Synod Council, First Call Theological Education, the Lay Pastoral Associate program, and other duties.

Director for Mission, EOCM:  Pastor Peters assists the Montana Synod in the areas of mission strategy and evangelism outreach, mission support and stewardship education, and new congregation development and multicultural ministry.

Prior to his position as Director for Evangelical Mission, Pastor Peters was on the Montana Synod staff serving in the areas of mobility and candidacy. For six years he served as the Executive Director for Lutheran Social Services of Montana. In that capacity he also directed Montana’s Lutheran Disaster Response and established the nationally recognized training program, Spiritual Accompaniment In Disaster, S.A.I.D.

Pastor Peters has served small, mid-sized, and large congregations in Montana, Washington, and Wisconsin; he has been a missionary in Indonesia; and he has served as a hospital chaplain and as a director for a non-profit whole person health care clinic. He is married to Deborah Anderson Peters, who serves as Executive Director for Northwest Research and Education Institute in Billings.  They are parents of Bina, studying law at the University of Montana, and Aria, a teaching assistant at the Evergreen School in Seattle, Washington. 

Pastor Peters likes to quote a Benedictine Abbot, who once said, “The problem is people live in the world and go to church, when they should be discovering real life in the church and going to the world!”  His personal mission statement is “to help others know the compassion and healing of Christ.”

Executive Assistant:   Susan A. Hedahl is the Executive Assistant for the Montana Synod. She started with the synod in January of 2002. Her experience comes from 25 years of work in the legal community, both with lawyers and a District Court Judge. Susan oversees the office operations, the annual Montana Synod Assembly, the roster, communications, Synod Council meetings, and administration and finances. Susan has a Paralegal Associates Degree from the University of Great Falls. She has been involved on the congregational level and served on her church council. Susan was a participant in the 2004 Lay Pastoral Associates Program.  An avid quilter, she is the mother of a daughter in college.

Administrative Assistant:   Susan Smith is originally from Texas and is new to the Synod office since September 1, 2008.  She brings with her a variety of job skills and experiences from her travels with the military.  Susan works as an administrative assistant for Synod office staff.  She works with candidacy, mobility, the LPA program, and other programs as needed.

Susan is working on her Associate’s degree in paralegal studies.  She also keeps busy raising three teenagers and one preteen. 

Margie Fiedler is the regional representative for the ELCA Mission Investment Fund, and was previously with the ELCA Foundation in Spokane, Washington.  She has also previously been the Development Director for a Lutheran Retirement Facility, and two outdoor ministry corporations.  Margie is married and a parent of two.  She is noted as having “high energy, and for caring deeply about church ministry.”

Officers

• Bishop Jessica Crist (2013)
• Vice-President Jacob Block (2011)
• Secretary Peggy Paugh-Leuzinger (2010)
• Treasurer Harold Spilde (2011)

Clusters

• Bearpaw Cluster – Ms. Sue Ost (2011)
• Beartooth Cluster - Rev. Kim Wilker (2012)
• Crazy Mountain Cluster - Rev. Bill Duffey (2011)
• Five Valleys Cluster - Mr. Scott Southwick (2012)
• Flathead Cluster – Rev. Gary Cockrell (2011)
• Fort Peck Cluster – Dr. Christine Holler-Dinsmore (2013)
• Golden Triangle Cluster – Ms. Cheryl Muncy (2013)
• Great Divide Cluster – Mr. John Mundinger (2013)
• Northeast Cluster – Rev. Betty Mawbey (2012)
• Russell Country Cluster – Mr. Tom Gossack (2012)
• Shepherd Cluster – Mr. Mike Young (2013)
• Southeast Cluster - Rev. George Karres (2011)
  

Youth Representative

• Ms. Victoria Bull (2010)