Senior Pastor

pastorscott@spiritofgrace.com

Pastor Scott joined the Spirit of Grace staff in 2019. He comes to us from South Dakota, his home state, but has also served as a pastor in Georgia, Colorado, New Mexico and Illinois. He is married to Miriam and they have four adult children, Jon (married to Amanda), Zach, Hannah (married to Roy), Ian and three very special grandsons: Raylan, Roman and Johan. There is also Rizzo (dog) and Pamuk (cat).

Pastor Scott has a Bachelor of Music from Eastern Illinois University and a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. His interests include Fly Fishing, food and travel. Pastor Scott and Miriam love life in Arizona.

Pastor Elaine Siemsen became a member of Spirit of Grace with her husband, Dennis in 2022. The Siemsens are seasonal residents at Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise. In October of 2024, She joined the staff, preaching each month and teaching the Bible study group that meets on Wednesdays at 10am. Pr. Elaine and Dennis and 2 adult children Amelia (married to Richard Moran) and Erin (married to Nick Schambureck). Erin and Nick parent 2 amazing girls who call Pr. Elaine “Grandma Siemsen”. The Siemsen household is completed by 2 standard poodles: Guinan and Sarek.

Pr. Elaine has a Bachelor of education from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, a Master of Divinity from Lutheran school of Theology in Chicago (LSTC) and a PhD in Systematic theology also from LSTC. Her interests include dog agility training, quilting and long-distance walking.

Pastor

By way of introduction, I am Scott Summers (yes, another Pastor Scott!) and I grew up in the eastern part of the state of Washington where we raised wheat, cattle and horses. Several years after graduating from college at Wash. State University, I attended Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary to be certified for ordination in the ELCA Lutheran denomination. I then served Lutheran congregations in Oregon and Washington State for 30 years.  After retirement my wife, Susan, and I moved from the Seattle area to Arizona to be closer to our daughter and son-in-law who live in Glendale, AZ and our son who lives in Los Angeles. Having been retired for more than 4 years I had a desire to participate in some type of part-time ministry.  I began serving the Spirit of Grace community in November of 2024, part-time, with a focus on Pastoral Care & visitation.  My wife and I enjoy hiking, bicycling, growing flowers, attending sports events and exploring the many fascinating parts of Arizona. I look forward to meeting new people and contributing to the ministries at Spirit of Grace!

Faith Community Nurse

deborah@spiritofgrace.com

Deborah is originally from Michigan and moved to Arizona in 1999 as a full-time resident. She received her nursing degree from the University of Detroit and worked as a nurse for 32 years before retiring from full time nursing July 2015. While in Michigan, she and her husband attended St. Peter’s Lutheran Church where she was active in Stephen Ministry and in volunteer nursing activities. As a nurse in Michigan, she worked in ICU, Hospice/Home Care and did volunteer work at a domestic violence shelter, Salvation Army homeless shelter and AIDS Interfaith Network.

Since moving to Arizona in 1999, she worked as the Pediatric HIV Clinical Nurse Coordinator at Phoenix Children’s Hospital until 2015. Deborah continues to maintain her Arizona Nursing license as well as certification in two areas of nursing—ACRN (AIDS Certified Registered Nurse) and CT (Certification in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement). Deborah received her Faith Community Nurse (FCN) training in 2007 and attended an updated course in 2018. While at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, she served on the Nurse Practice Council and the Phoenix Metropolitan Area HIV/AIDS Planning Council. She also had the privilege of working extensively with refugee populations from all over the world with spiritual and psycho-social needs in addition to their medical needs.

She and her husband Rich have been members of Spirit of Grace since 1999. Since joining the church here, she has served as a Stephen Minister leader, blood pressure lead nurse, CPR/AED coordinator, Advent Giving Tree coordinator, secretary of the church council and in other areas as needed

Admin Assistant

merly@spiritofgrace.com

Director of Finance & Administration

glenn@spiritofgrace.com

Glenn has been a Valley resident since 1956, graduating from ASU with a degree in finance. He practiced as a CPA from 1969 to 1991 when he left public accounting. From 1991 until 2009 he worked in financial planning, and real estate development before becoming a sales manager. From 2009 to 2015 he was the owner/manager of a downtown Phoenix restaurant. Because of a need to be in the workforce, he joined SOG as its accountant at the beginning of 2019.

Facilities Manager

JHuston@spiritofgrace.com

Jerry and his wife Annie moved to Tucson in 1979 from Des Moines, Ia. Jerry worked for Pima County Facilities as Construction Project Manager. Multi-million dollar projects like Parking Garages, Juvenile Court Center, Jails, then moved on to two team Spring Training Stadiums/Recreation Complexes (Tucson and Surprise). You could say all the challenges involved with building things was his passion, watching beautiful buildings or a recreation complex grow from a simple plot of ground. Now retired, enjoys his position as Facilities Mgr at SOG, the challenge of gourmet cooking, and his newest passion is becoming the next Barbecue Pit Master.

Assistant to Facilities Manager

Norm was born in Chicago and raised in Milwaukee. He holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Upon graduating from UW he taught American history for 9 years at a suburban middle school in the Milwaukee area. Thereafter he changed careers and spend over 30 years in middle and senior management in the staffing and recruiting engineering sector. In 2011 Norm retired from CH2Mhill in Denver.

Norm and Franci married in 1981. Career advancement required relocation to San Diego, Cleveland, Spartanburg (SC) and Denver. Both are avid Green Bay Packer fans.

You are likely to see Norm out on his daily multi-mile walk.

Grace Notes Editor

annie@spiritofgrace.com

Choir Director

Counseling Ministry

Dr. Dramise provides “By Apointment only” counseling sessions every Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. mornings.

Each month he leads Kindred Spirtis, an opporutnity for members to socialize to be healthy.

For details shee Ministries - Counceling Ministry.