Church Staff

Mark Nelson
Senior Pastor

It’s terrific to be at Peace!  It is a privilege to serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this congregation! And also to return to my hometown.  I grew up in west Bloomington, went to Bloomington schools—Ridgeview, Penn, and Lincoln.  I attended the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and, following graduation, entered Luther Northwestern Seminary.  Following graduation from seminary in 1984, I accepted a call to serve as Associate Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Long Lake and was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1984.  Following eight years at Trinity, I served as an interim pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Woodlake in Richfield, and Nokomis Heights, south Minneapolis.  In 1997, I was called to be the Senior Pastor of Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church.  I also accepted responsibilities in churchwide leadership.  I especially enjoyed serving on the Evangelism Task Force of the ELCA in 2001-2002.

In 2003 I received a call from the Division for Global Missions asking us to serve on behalf of the Church in Egypt.  For the next two years, I served as Senior Pastor of St. Andrew’s United Church in downtown Cairo.  This was followed by an invitation to assist with ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem. Upon returning to the United States, I served as Interim Senior Pastor with at Peace, then Faith-Lilac Way, Robbinsdale, and Our Saviour’s in Minneapolis before returning to Peace.  

When I am not engaged in the life of the church, I seek a sense of balance through other activities.  I enjoy running, tennis, and reading.   We like to travel to visit family and new places. 

My chief joy in life, however, is in spending time with my wife, Marcie.  We live in southeast Minneapolis in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood.  She underwrites long-term care insurance at Allianz Corporation.  We have four children.  Brittany and her husband, Chris, live in Ada, Michigan, with their four children; Julia, Sam, Jack, and Aidan.  Melissa and her husband, Aaron, live in south Minneapolis with sons, Jens and Per.  Tim is completing his doctoral studies in political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  John lives in Brooklyn Center and manages a soccer equipment store. 

Lori Thomson
Administrator

Lori Thomson has beenthe Administrator at Peace since October 2001.  This position has great variety...everything from financial management, facilities management, technology, working with volunteers and general clean-up duties. She and her family have been members of Peace since 1992.  Lori attended the College of St. Catherine for her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology and the University of Phoenix for her MBA.  The majority of her career has been spent in the medical field, the first few years as a Medical Technologist.  She then spent several years with CIGNA in many roles; Members Services Manager, Provider Relations Manager, Director of Provider Contracting and IS Manager.  She then decided make a change to part-time and eliminate business travel.  After working at a start up technology firm for a couple of years, she began to work at Peace.

 Lori has been married to Jim for 21 years. They lived in Phoenix, Arizona for 5 years then moved back to MN and have lived in Bloomington since 1991.Lori and Jim have two children, Jimmy and Emma and a cute little dog named Pepper. 

Lori's favorite part of Peace is working with the people.  The Peace community is very warm, friendly and caring group of people. When Lori is not working, she spends a lot of time as a chauffer.  She enjoys watching her kid's activities, reading, and working around the house.

Jason Kramme
Children, Youth, and Family Ministries Director

It’s awesome to be here at Peace!  I grew up in heaven, er, um Iowa in a city called Ankeny.  As a young lad, I enjoyed playing sports, singing in choir, and outdoor sports with my dad and brothers.  I went off to college (35 mins away) in a town called Indianola, IA.  While I was at Simpson, I was very involved in a variety of activities.  I was an officer in my fraternity (SAE).  I ran middle distance on the track team.  I took voice lessons.  I was a student chaplain and a student ambassador.  All in all, I was busy almost every hour of every day!

During the summer of my freshman year, I took a job as a senior counselor at Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp in Okoboji, IA.  It was a wonderful experience!  So wonderful, in fact, that it was my time as a counselor that made me decide that I wanted to be a pastor.  When I returned to campus that fall, I changed my major, got into the chapel, and set my mind towards seminary. 

I was lucky enough to attend Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  Bethel is a wonderful school that serves over 60 denominations in a variety of areas.  In June of 2010, I received my MDiv, concentrating in counseling and philosophy. 

Sue Larson
Communications Specialist

Sue Larson is the Communications Specialist. She grew up in Minneapolis, and graduated from the University of MN-Duluth with a BA in Accounting. She and her husband Steve have lived in Bloomington since 1981. They have 3 children, Andrea, Brad and Mandy.

Sue enjoys volunteering for the Bloomington Athletic Associaton in her spare time, as well as cooking, and reading. She is an AVID college football fan and enjoys following the U of M Gophers. “I am excited to work at Peace Lutheran and interact with all the great people here.”

Miranda Kvanli
Children, Youth and Family Intern

Miranda Andersen joined us at Peace to serve as a part-time intern, working with our various youth ministries for the next 19 months. Miranda graduated from Augustana College this past May and is now a first year Master of Divinity student at Luther Seminary, with a concentration in children, youth and family ministry. She is from the Sioux Falls, SD area, and her family currently lives in Worthington, MN. She has a younger brother Alex who is a junior in high school, and she has two cats: Tiger, and a brand new kitten named Callie (we’re suckers for stray kittens). Miranda is married to Dan Kvanli (pronounced Quan-lee) who is finishing up his final year at Augustana, majoring in computer science. “I am very excited to be here at Peace Lutheran and to be given this opportunity to work with youth and adults alike in this congregation.”  Welcome Miranda!

Jon and Anita Young
Worship and Music Co-Directors

Jon and Anita graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with BAs in music.  They joined Peace Lutheran Church in March of 1983 and have been active in music and worship since they became members.  In addition to leading worship and directing the Peace choir, Jon has been active on the Worship & Music Ministry Team and served on two call committees.  Anita has also been active with the Worship & Music Ministry team and the Peace “Garden Club” in addition to serving the audit committee and council.  Jon and Anita live in Eden Prairie with their two dogs and enjoy travel, golf, cooking, and entertaining family and friends in their backyard garden.

Evan Hansen
Adult Education Director

Evan worked as a science and medical writer/editor in the New York City publishing field for 14 years, until he heard an increasingly clear call to apply his professional skills to the work of building God’s Kingdom. This brought him to Bloomington, MN, where, since 2002, he has served as the Executive Editor of Crossways International, a non-profit, interdenominational Christian education publishing organization. Evan comes from generations of ministers, missionaries, and church workers, and loves to study and discuss the Bible. He also enjoys playing the guitar, cooking, reading, and movies. Evan and his wife Rhonda have been part of the Peace family since 2005, and for several years, he has led the Wednesday 7:00 AM Bible study group at Peace.

Bill Linder
Building Maintenance

Bev Porter
Building Maintenance