Team
Pastor Anna Sorenson
Co-Director
pastoranna@lacrosseareasynod.org
Anna is passionate about helping all children of God know they are beloved and discover their Spirit given gifts to make the world a more loving place. She has been serving in a variety of Christian ministries since she was a teenager teaching first grade Sunday School. She is the associate pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (La Crescent, MN), and engages her love for outdoor ministry as part of the team at Sacred Playgrounds, as a board member at Luther Park Bible Camp (Chetek, WI), and serving on the design team for Outdoor Ministries Connection Great Gathering.
Anna received a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College, an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and an STM from the Lutheran Theological School at Philadelphia (now United Seminary). She is thrilled to be working with this excellent staff in the Engaging Children Initiative.
Kendra Wieser
Co-Director
Kendra has worked with children in a variety of roles since 2003. She has a master’s degree in education and has worked at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in La Crescent, Minnesota since 2019 serving as the Director of Faith Formation and Peli Preschool Chaplain. Kendra believes faith formation is a life-long process and is passionate about creatively integrating what works for children to benefit and build communities of faith. She enjoys reading, creating, cooking, and time spent with her family and snuggly dog.
Sarah Kempf
Program Assistant
sarah@lacrosseareasynod.org
engagingchildren@lacrosseareasynod.org
Sarah loves to share the radical, transformative, and abundant love of God with ALL kids, and seeks to foster meaningful relationships with God throughout childhood and into adulthood. She has served in various Children, Youth, and Family Ministry roles at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church (Mahtomedi, MN) since 2009, working with Confirmation and Middle School Ministries, Peer Minstries, and High School and Young Adult Ministries.
Sarah received her Bachelors of Arts in Child Psychology, Spanish, and Fine Arts at the University of Minnnesota-Twin Cities in 2018. She received her Master of Arts in Justice and Reconciliation in the Church from Luther Seminary in 2020. Sarah is wild about God's Creation and loves being outside, befriending creepy-crawlies, and hiking and camping with friends. She spent two summers as a counselor at Camp Wapo and Ox Lake Bible Camps, guiding children, rescuing spiders, and learning to be a good steward of the earth by caring for all of God’s amazing creatures and critters.