Welcome to
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

8115 State Highway Seven
St. Louis Park, MN 55426

 

Telephone:

952-938-5400


We are a community where the good news of Jesus Christ is celebrated,
experienced and shared.

Prince of Peace has been located "on the hill" in St. Louis Park for almost 60
years. We are a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
While serving the community, under the leadership of our
pastor, Ray Peterson, we continue exploring new ways of worship and ministry.
We celebrate our past and are excited about our future. We at Prince of
Peace offer you a welcoming place to gather for worship, seek Christ,
grow in faith and serve the community.

 

Organist

Welcome Youngju “Julie” An

 

We are excited to announce and welcome Youngju An or as she says, “You can call me Julie” as our new organist.  Julie comes to us with an extensive background and credentials for the position. She finished the bachelor of music degree in piano performance in South Korea, received a master’s degree in piano performance at Minnesota State University, Mankato and is presently studying organ at University of Minnesota. She also studied theology for worship and Gospel at Luther Seminary, St. Paul in 2009.

She has a wide variety of church experiences as an accompanist, conductor, and teacher. Her sparking personality and faith will make her a wonderful addition to our staff.  We look forward to welcoming her on April 7. 



Our Staff:

Ray Peterson, Senior Pastor

ray1     DelRay (Ray) Peterson has served as Prince of Peace’s  pastor since 1999, when he was called to be Senior Pastor.  A native of the Twin Cities, he has degrees from Bethel College (1968) and Luther Seminary (1981).  Prior to coming to Prince of Peace, he served as Associate Pastor at Gethsemane Lutheran in Hopkins (1981-1985), Richfield Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis (1985-1989), and Christ Lutheran in Blaine (1989-1998). 

       His wife Sandy is Chairman of the Nursing Program at Bethel University in St. Paul Minnesota.  They have two children:  Christopher, who is the pastor at Providence Presbyterian in Southaven, Mississippi.  Chris is married to Alisa and they have two children, son, Liam Cyrus, and daughter Jane Morgan.   Their daughter Beth lives in Seattle and is a water resources engineer. 
     Pastor Peterson has been active in the Synod in several areas.  He was active on the youth committee training and leading music at several youth conventions.  He served on Reference and Council as well as being in charge of arrangements for the Minneapolis Synod Convention.  In 2007 he was a delegate to the Churchwide Assembly in Chicago.
     Since coming to Prince of Peace he has developed several new ministries including a contemporary service “Worship ANEW” and a wonderful new Sunday School program based on the rotation series.  He has introduced ALPHA to the church as well as a summer Bible Study series.  Since his arrival the Lenten Drama series and Suppers have brought new life to the congregation.  His prayer is that the church continues to serve the community through its present ministries and also reach out in new ways to meet the needs of our changing city.

     To that end he is presently serving as a volunteer chaplain with the St. Louis Park Police Department and has also served on the Blake Corridor Task Force with the Hopkins Chief of Police and several community agencies in trying to change the environment of the neighborhood.   
Ray Peterson - Senior Pastor - rpeterson@popslp.org

 

Judy Francis, Associate Pastor
    
Judy Francis has served on the staff of Prince of Peace since 1987 when she was called as the Interim Youth Director.  In July of 1987, Judy was called as Parish Minister.  A native of Minneapolis, she is a graduate of Augsburg College (1992) and Luther Seminary (2000).

     In the spring of 2001, Judy was called to be the Associate Pastor at Prince of Peace, and was ordained on May 20, 2001.  Judy’s responsibilities include: Youth and Confirmation, The XYZ’s, Shared Ministry and Social Ministry. 

     Pastor Judy and her husband Stephen have two children, a daughter Jackie, who has two children, Katie & Michael, and son Erick, his wife, Jenny and son William James, daughter Sarah Ann and son Benjamin Hathaway.

 Judy Francis - Associate Pastor - jfrancis@popslp.org

 

 

Erick Lichte, Choir Director

We are blessed to have Erick Lichte as our new choir director.  Erick comes to us with extensive musical background and experience.

          In the last ten years, Erick has carved out a distinct niche in the vocal music world and concert life in America. As a founding member, singer and Artistic Director of the male vocal ensemble Cantus, he created and sustained one of the two full-time vocal ensembles in the nation.

          From 2000-2009, Erick’s programming and artistic direction was heard in over 60 concerts a year in such venues as Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Merkin Hall, San Francisco Performances, Oregon Bach Festival, UCLA and Spivey Hall, to name a few. His work has also been heard by hundreds of thousands of people through national and international broadcasts of hour-long Christmas programs distributed through American Public Media.  He has collaborated with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, the Boston Pops, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, James Sewell Ballet and poet Robert Bly, to name a few.

His work with Cantus garnered him the 2009 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the highest honor for the professional choral organization Chorus America.

Erick himself is an active arranger and composer whose music has been heard across the United States, especially as a co-creator and arranger of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.  As a record producer, Erick has been at the helm of eight highly acclaimed Cantus recordings as well as a forthcoming album of Schumann and Brahms works by Canadian pianist Robert Silvermann.

He is currently on faculty of Augsburg College and is the Artistic Director of the Great River Chorale, an auditioned 50 voice ensemble based in St. Cloud, Minnesota. We are excited about having him on our staff. 

 

 

    

    

Maxine Gerdts-Office Staff
Children's Choir - Cyndi Smith, Alyce Steffel

Todd Lewis-Maintenance

Earl Wilcox-Maintenance