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Congregation Council

The Congregation Council Has general oversight of the life, Christian education, and activities of the congregation, and in particular its worship life, to the end that everything be done in accordance with the Word of God and the faith and practice of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

They are also responsible for the financial, property matters and employment and supervision of the staff of this congregation.

Council Members

Darren Whitford

Council President
Darren and his family have been members of First Lutheran Church since 201. He has been part of church council since 2018, and is proud to serve this wonderful congregation. Darren also enjoys serving the community as a youth sports coach for Strongsville City Schools. He enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends, all sorts of sports, and being active.

JUNE ZAKRAJSEK 

Vice President

Gary Walters

Treasurer
Gary and his wife Mary have been members of First Lutheran Church since 2007. They have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Gary has held various engineering roles over 40+ years in Northeast Ohio and enjoys outdoor activities including an occasional round of golf. Over the years, Gary has served as an Usher, a Counter, a member of the Endowment Committee and in 2024 was re-elected as Council Treasurer.  

Stacey Mcnamara

Secretary
Stacey and her husband Mike joined First Lutheran Church in 2005. They continue to be active members along with their two children. Stacey has served as Council Secretary since 2019, sings in the Praise Band, and has done a little bit of everything around the church.
Stacey works as a job developer. She enjoys exercising,  cooking,  being with family,  and being in Cleveland!

Ken Holda

At Large
Ken Holda has been a member of First Lutheran Strongsville since 1998.  He has served on Council as a representative at large since 2019.  His wife, Anne, married daughters Kristine and Ingrid as well as granddaughters Lexie and Keila are also congregation members.  Ken is a retired supply chain manager, who worked for two very large international industrial manufacturers over the course of 40 years.  Ken, Anne and daughters have spent many years moving back and forth to Europe several times over those years.  Today our "wanderings" tend to be between Ohio and Florida. 

jANET kAISER

At Large
Janet and her family joined First Church in 1993. Janet sings in the choir and plays in the bell choir. She also serves on Altar Guild. In her spare time she enjoys reading and spending time with her grandchildren. 

eLLEN kOLMAN

Cabinet Liasion
"Ellen is a life-long Lutheran. Ellen, her husband Jeff and son Zach joined First Lutheran in 2005. Zach has since flown the coop and they are now empty nesters.
She is actively involved in Chancel Choir, Bell Choir, Altar Guild and other aspects of worship and service. She served as co-chair of the Celebration Team from October 2021 to July 2023. She is currently Cabinet Liaison since July 2023.  In her spare time, she is an avid crafter and loves to garden."

dawn zima

Mutual Ministry
Dawn has been a long time member of First.  She has held various positions on Council and Cabinet.  Her work experience included a career in Human Resources, Recruiting for Avery Dennison, Key Bank and lastly FirstEnergy.  She is married to Dave, and they have their fur baby English bulldog named Walter.

Brenda jacobs

Controller
Brenda and her husband Bob joined First Lutheran Church in 1996. They both have been active in many areas of congregational life. Brenda began her role as Controller in 2005. She loves to travel across the country to see her three children and three grandchildren . 

Kathleen L. Kluck

Pastor
Pastor

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