Meet Our Staff
After graduating from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1974, David Mehl completed a Master of Divinity degree at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts, (1978) and later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Eden Seminary in 2003. An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, he has served congregations in St. Louis, Massachusetts and Vermont over the past 30 years. Dr. Mehl is deeply committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, and has cultivated ties among Christians of differing traditions. His ministry with St. Lucas UCC began in December of 2007.
Rev. Carol A. Keller, Minister for Congregational Life
Click here to email Rev. Keller
A graduate of Eden Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Carol brings a passion for the Gospel and a love for God’s people to her call to parish ministry. Before coming to St. Lucas, Carol served as pastor and teacher in three other St. Louis area congregations. Her focus of ministry at St. Lucas UCC centers in pastoral care, primarily through the organized Caring Ministries of St. Lucas UCC, and in welcoming hospitality through Evangelism and Membership Care. Carol has served in many leadership positions in the Missouri Mid-South Conference, including as its Moderator. She has also served on the Board of Directors for Emmaus Homes, Inc. and currently serves on the Board of Director’s for Lydia’s House.
Rev. Mark Roberts, Minister of Education and Mission
Click here to email Rev. Roberts
A graduate of Eden Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Mark brings extensive experience in Christian non-profit ministry and deep roots in the UCC to his position at St. Lucas. Prior to seminary, Mark worked as the Chief Operating Officer/Administrative Director of Columbia Road Health Services, an ecumenical Christian primary care health clinic for low-income residents of in inner-city
Michele Ottinger,
Coordinator of Children's Ministry and all Church Programming
A passion for the faith journey of children and families brought Michele to St. Lucas after spending over thirty years in the field of early childhood education. Throughout her career, she has served as the executive director of several large child development centers, a consultant for the state of Missouri Bureau of Child Care and, most recently, a crisis intervention consultant for Head Start programs throughout the
Kit & Gina Norton, Coordinators of Youth Ministries
Click here to email Kit & Gina
Christopher (Kit) Norton graduated from Missouri State University with a BS.ed, has 7 years of teaching experience and is currently serving the Lindbergh School district. Kit served 9 plus summers on staff at camp MO-Val, MMSUCC. Before coming to St Lucas Kit served as Director of Youth Ministry in a two church charge between St. Philips and St Martins UCC congregations. As Youth Coordinator his primary goal is to partner with young people as they journey to engage in a relationship to God.
Gina Pona-Norton graduated from Webster University with a Masters degree plus 30 in Education, has seven years of teaching experience and has served for over 18 years as a Fitness Consultant in the St Louis area. For the past eight years Gina has owned and operated a Personal Training-Fitness Consultant business. Gina maintains her faithful support for the growth of young lives through the mission of the YMCA of Greater St Louis. As Youth Coordinator her primary goal is to partner with young people as they journey to engage in a relationship to God.
Lana Richard, Director of Music
Lana Turner Richard has advanced degrees in music education and piano performance. She has been at St. Lucas since 1996. Before that she taught at various community colleges in the area, ran her own music studio where young pianists, under her instruction, went on to win music scholarships and awards. She was also the head accompanist for the St. Louis Children’s Choirs. She currently has a children’s Christian Musical published through AuthorHouse, is listed in the International Piano Guild’s Hall of Fame and the 2007 editions of Who’s Who for academic and professional accomplishments, is active as a soloist and accompanist, regularly judges piano festivals throughout the St. Louis area and is the musical director for the award winning summer theater PlayHouse Productions.
John Gross, Staff Organist
John received his Bachelor of Music Degree from St. Louis Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Washington University. He has been the Organist for St. Lucas for 55 years! He has previously served as our Director of Music and as Accompanist for District and Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions as well as Accompanist coach for Washington University Opera Studio. In addition to serving St. Lucas, John currently works as Staff Accompanist for the Music Department at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, as well as accompanist for various clubs and choral groups throughout the St. Louis area. His wife, Dorothy, conducts the Hosanna Choir of St. Lucas.
David Kuhns, Saturday Evening Organist
David is an Honor Graduate of South County Technical High School. He has been the organist for the Saturday evening worship service at St. Lucas since 1994. He began organ lessons at the age of 10 and has concentrated on classical organ for much of the last 16 years.
Pamela Russo, Business Manager
Pam has been the Business Manager since 1998 and is responsible for the overall business needs of St. Lucas, including financial, facilities and grounds, rental properties and supervision of support and maintenance staff. Prior to St. Lucas, Pam worked as the Firm Administrator at Davis, Keller and Klein, CPA's and was responsible for all of their business and financial activities. Pam's dedication and professionalism has helped grow St. Lucas into a leading United Church of Christ.
Cyndy Wrobel, Secretary
Debbie Heagle, Secretary
Charlie Singler, Bob Portell, Kerry Ford, and Dennis Scherr, Maintenance
Joyce Woodall, Preschool Director
Joyce started our Preschool in 1971 with an enrollment of only 8 students. By the end of the first year enrollment grew to 32. Thirty-eight years later, the school continues to thrive with an average of 332 students yearly. Joyce was married to Ron Woodall (deceased in 1989), has three boys - Jeff, Todd and Darren, and is grandma to Alex, Kayla, Ava and Eli.