In 1978 Pastor Kevin Jacobson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He followed his dream of being a 5th and 1st grade teacher in Whitehall, Wisconsin. Following his elementary school teaching days, he worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer at ZorZor Rural Teacher Training College in Liberia. It was in Liberia that he lived close to Lutheran missionaries from the United States who encouraged him to undertake theological studies and become an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He served two years as an ELCA missionary in Papua New Guinea at Balob Teachers College in Lae and then 6 more years as lecturer and chair of the Religious Education program at the University of Papua New Guinea, Goroka Campus. These years were formative in shaping Kevin’s passion for how the Lutheran Church engaged in mission and ministry in the world. From 1997 – 2007 Kevin served in the ELCA Global Mission unit in the Lutheran Center in Chicago, Illinois, as Director for Global Mission Education. While in Chicago he continued to emphasize the push for a deeper understanding of the accompaniment model for mission and developing community with global mission advocates across the church while encouraging congregational engagement in God’s global mission. In 2007 Kevin was called to serve as congregational pastor and work in leadership training and development with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Suriname, South America. While in Suriname his primary engagement was in providing pastoral leadership in the ELKS and facilitating educational opportunities for both future ordained and lay leadership. In November 2016 Pastor Jacobson joined the staff at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Baltimore, Maryland as Assistant Director for Outreach where he used his passion for education, mobilizing companions to outreach to new migrants and refugee communities across the United States and foster opportunities to engage in relationship building with those most vulnerable. In November 2017 he returned to the ELCA – Global Mission unit and now serves as Director for Global Personnel.

Rev. Emily Harkins is a nationally recognized speaker, pastor, and leader with a passion

for Jesus, justice, and radical love. As the founding developer and pastor of The

Dwelling, a vibrant and growing community of faith in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C.,

she works daily to reclaim the identity of brokenness and recast it as beautiful, beloved,

and holy.

Originally from Colorado, Emily is a proud graduate of Wartburg College (2008) with

degrees in history education and history, as well as a certificate in leadership. In 2020,

she earned her Master of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary, with a

concentration in mission development. Now a Southern transplant, she has fully

embraced southern charm, the word “y’all,” and the rhythm of life in her

Winston-Salem community.

For additional information regarding Rev. Harkins and her ministry, click on the link below.

Rev. Louise N. Johnson took the role the executive for vision at the beginning of 2024, after serving as assistant to the presiding bishop/executive for administration of the ELCA for three years.

Prior to her work with the ELCA churchwide organization, she served as a director for LEAD, a leadership development nonprofit. Pastor Johnson also served as the fourteenth president of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, where she led the seminary to its largest fundraising and enrollment years in the history of the school.

Pastor Johnson has served in a variety of roles at Wartburg, as well as the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She has served congregations as both a pastor and a youth ministry worker.

Pastor Johnson is a native of Akron, Ohio, and attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. She earned a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Seminary in 1999. She has a Certificate in Leadership and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She continues to teach, speak and consult on change leadership in church organizations.