Worship Leaders
2027 Institute
Worship Leaders
Check out this year’s incredible lineup of musicians, preachers, presiders, and more.
Preachers
Meta Herrick Carlson, M.Div.
Gathering Eucharist
Monday, April 5, 4:30 p.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
Meta Herrick Carlson (she/her) is a pastor and poet whose ministry labors for more meaningful ritual, accessible language, and healthy communities. Her theology is formed by the sacred wisdom of recovery circles and survivors of sexual violence. Meta is the author of five books and several place-based liturgies that proclaim God’s delight for our ordinary lives and all of creation. In 2022, she and Carol Meier teamed up to create The Prairie Liturgies, a collection commissioned by Shalom Hill Farm in Windom, Minnesota, and inspired by its spiritual geography. She laughs at her own jokes and packs extra snacks just in case. She and her family live in Minneapolis on Dakota Land. Learn more about her canon of work at www.MetaHerrickCarlson.com.
William G. Fredstrom, Ph.D. Candidate
Midday Prayer
Tuesday, April 6, 1:30 p.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
Rev. William G. Fredstrom serves as Senior Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Seymour, Indiana. He is currently completing his Ph.D. at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where his dissertation, “Algorithms of Authority: Christian Political Theology in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” explores the intersection of emerging technologies and Christian political thought. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Concordia University Chicago and Concordia University Wisconsin, and a Guest Instructor at Concordia Seminary.
Rev. Fredstrom writes and speaks regularly on artificial intelligence, Christian ethics, and political theology. In 2025, he received the Lutheran Quarterly Annual Essay Prize and currently serves on the editorial committee of Lutheran Mission Matters.
Ralen Robinson, D.Min.
Sending Eucharist
Wednesday, April 7, 2:30 p.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
Rev. Dr. Ralen has served at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas for more than five years and continues to provide pastoral leadership during a season of congregational growth, renewal, and renewed energy. Under her leadership, worship participation has steadily increased, contemporary worship has experienced growth, and new member engagement has risen substantially. Her ministry extends beyond numbers, creating connections, strengthening welcome, encouraging creative approaches to worship and ministry, and engaging the community. Through collaborative and visionary leadership, she brings a spirit of creativity, compassion, and courage to ministry, helping people encounter faith in meaningful ways while building a church ready to meet the future with hope.
Presiders and Leaders
Jan Rippentrop Schnell, Ph.D.
Gathering Eucharist
Monday, April 5, 4:30 p.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
Jan Rippentrop Schnell is a liturgical theologian and religious ethicist. Trained as a Lutheran pastor, she is the assistant professor of liturgics at Wartburg Theological Seminary. Their 2025 book Agapic Anger: Influencing Change while Navigating Gender, an exploration in ethnography and virtue ethics, shows how Christians can do well with their anger to bring about positive social transformation. Schnell has consistently invested in ethnographic listening and research, and in lifting up stories of people embodying a multiplicity of perspectives. Often, her grant-funded projects become resources for church leaders, with focused care for those society marginalizes.
Presiders and Leaders
Julie Grindle ’92, M.M.
Morning Prayer
Tuesday, April 6, 10:15 a.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
Julie Grindle is a lifelong Lutheran church musician, now serving as Associate to the Bishop in the Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA. She earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Organ and Church Music from Valparaiso University and Indiana’s University Jacobs School of Music. She has served a diversity of congregational traditions as a musician and cantor: ELCA, LCMS, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic.
A long-time church musician, Julie describes herself as a “liturgi-nerd” and values designing and leading liturgy that welcomes all, providing intentional hospitality liturgically and musically, and hopefully creating room for the Spirit’s work.
Annemarie Hartner Cook ’03, M.Div
Sally Messner ’02, MSM
Evening Prayer
Tuesday, April 6, 4:45 p.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
The Rev. Annemarie Hartner Cook is an Assistant to the Bishop and Program Director of Faith Alive in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA. She is a graduate of Valparaiso University (B.A. ’03) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (M.Div. ‘07). She has a passion for helping young people connect and feel included in liturgy and has coordinated the ELCA Worship activities at the 2018 and 2024 ELCA Youth Gatherings. Annemarie lives in the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia with her husband Tim and teen daughter, Sam.
Sally Messner, Director of Worship for the Institute of Liturgical Studies, serves as minister of worship and music at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. She has presented on topics ranging from vocal care to church music history, written articles and hymn texts for national publications, and has served as musician and preacher for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. She is president of the Twin Cities chapter of Choristers Guild and founding musical director of the Elm Ensemble. Sally earned a bachelor of music in voice performance from Valparaiso University and a master of sacred music from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Steven Wilco ’06, M.Div.
Sending Eucharist
Wednesday, April 7, 2:30 p.m.
Chapel of the Resurrection
The Rev. Steven Wilco is a Lutheran pastor currently serving as the Priest-in-Charge at a two-point call with Trinity Episcopal Church, Wethersfield, Connecticut, and St. James Episcopal Church, Glastonbury, Connecticut. He lives in Western Massachusetts.
Musicians
Jim Marriott, Ph.D.
Rev. Dr. James Marriott is Associate Professor of Theology and Music at Concordia University Texas, where he serves as Chair of the Theology Department, University Organist, and Director of the Chapel Music Ensemble. Holding undergraduate and graduate degrees in Parish Music from Concordia Nebraska and Concordia Wisconsin, respectively, he earned a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, with an emphasis in liturgical inculturation. He was also ordained into the pastoral ministry through Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and serves as Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Georgetown, TX. He frequently lectures and performs across the United States, using workshops and hymn festivals as an opportunity to demonstrate the cultural diversity of the church. Jim and his wife, Kristi, have been married for twenty-three years and are blessed with two children, Joel and Kirstin.
Musicians
Sally Messner ’02, MSM
Sally Messner, Director of Worship for the Institute of Liturgical Studies, serves as minister of worship and music at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. She has presented on topics ranging from vocal care to church music history, written articles and hymn texts for national publications, and has served as musician and preacher for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. She is president of the Twin Cities chapter of Choristers Guild and founding musical director of the Elm Ensemble. Sally earned a bachelor of music in voice performance from Valparaiso University and a master of sacred music from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Musicians
Haruhito Miyagi, Ph.D.
Dr. Haruhito Miyagi is an organist, harpsichordist, hurdy-gurdyist, and composer who has performed throughout the United States, Germany, Romania, and Hungary. He recently made his debut with the Utah Symphony and West Valley Symphony.
As a composer, Dr. Miyagi has received internationally recognized honors, including a commission from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition. His musical voice blends early music, contemporary techniques, and cross-cultural influences. His works have been performed by ensembles including the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro of Brasília, Musica Nostra Kórus of Budapest, Battery String Quartet of Chicago, Quarteto L’Arianna of São Paulo, and members of the Utah Symphony.
Melissa Plamann ’05, D.M.
Hailed as a performer of the “highest caliber,” Dr. Melissa Plamann “command[s] the console with confidence, musicality, and fine technique” (The Tracker). Plamann is the Wanda L. Bass Chair of Organ and Professor of Music at Oklahoma City University’s Bass School of Music.
Plamann holds organ performance degrees from Valparaiso University, Emory University, and Indiana University-Bloomington. She maintains an active performing schedule and is the Southwest Regional Ambassador for the American Guild of Organists.
An avid scholar, Plamann recently published her first book with Bloomsbury Press: Unnerved: The Performer’s Guide to Managing Anxiety (2026). More information is available at melissaplamann.com.
The Valparaiso University Chorale continues to earn acclaim as one of the top Lutheran collegiate choirs in the United States, upholding the highest standard of choral art through performance of the finest choral literature of all eras and preserving the University’s rich choral tradition, which dates back to the early 20th century. The mixed ensemble performs an eclectic repertoire that spans from traditional to significant contemporary works, all in their original languages, and to selections that express multicultural perspectives. Under the direction of Marin Jacobson, Ph.D., the ensemble maintains an active performance schedule.
The Chamber Concert Band is the premier concert band of three at Valparaiso University. Membership is by audition and students of all majors are encouraged to participate. Each person in the band is considered an integral member. Although a principal player is named for each section, band members rotate parts so that everyone plays both melody and harmony parts during each performance. Repertoire includes the finest in concert band music, with a special focus on original band compositions. The Chamber Concert Band is one of the university’s touring ensembles. Outreach performances have included schools, churches, and community events throughout the United States, Canada, and Malta.