| POSITION |
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| Senior Pastor |
Dr. Ken Lutgen, Jr. |
Ken was born in Fayette,
Missouri while his Father was attending |
| Associate Pastor |
Bryan Wendling |
Bryan was born in Kansas City and grew up in Gladstone. He |
| Director of Music/Organist |
Linda Mann |
Linda plays piano and organ for weekly worship
services. She |
| Children & Family Ministries |
Tammy Bartley |
Tammy has had a life-long commitment to serving
Christ through |
| Youth Coordinator |
Anne Norton |
Anne grew
up in Kansas City and has been living in Raytown |
| Office Manager |
Mary Alice McBain |
Mary Alice grew up in Northwest Missouri near
Maryville and |
| Kitchen Coordinator |
Phylis Goforth |
Phylis' cooking journey probably started when she
had to have |
| Property Manager |
Larry Madden |
Larry is responsible for
building maintenance. He also services |
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Dr. Ken Lutgen, Jr., Senior
Pastor
klutgen@blueridgechurch.org
Ken was born in Fayette, Missouri while his Father
was attending Central Methodist College. The family moved to Kansas City
in 1949 where Ken has lived except for periods when he lived in Jackson,
Mississippi 1958-1963, New York City 1992-1997 and St. Louis 1997-2000.
Ken has served as the Pastor/Senior Pastor of a church for over 30
years, as Director of UMCOR for five years and as the District
Superintendent of Kansas City for five years prior to coming to Blue
Ridge. He graduated from Center High School of Kansas City where he met
Linda L. Wood. They united in marriage in 1966 and have three grown
children and five wonderful grandchildren. Ken and Linda share the
hobbies of travel and gardening.
Dr. Lutgen brings 35 years of global and local church experience to this
position as Senior Pastor.
Service
|
Student Pastor |
Grain Valley Charge United
Methodist Church |
1969-1972 |
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Pastor |
Platte City United
Methodist Church |
1972-1977 |
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Pastor |
Red Bridge United
Methodist Church |
1977-1985 |
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Senior Pastor |
North Cross United
Methodist Church |
1985-1992 |
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Deputy General Secretary |
General Board of Global
Ministries, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) |
1992-1997 |
|
Senior Pastor |
Webster Hills United
Methodist Church |
1997-2000 |
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District Superintendent |
Heartland Central
District, Missouri Conference |
2000-2005 |
|
Senior Pastor |
Blue Ridge United
Methodist Church |
2005- |
Education
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Bachelor of Arts |
University of Missouri,
Kansas City |
1970 |
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Masters of Divinity |
Saint Paul School of
Theology, Kansas City |
1973 |
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Doctor of Ministry |
McCormick Seminary,
Chicago, Illinois |
1984 |
Skills
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Dr. Lutgen is an ordained
Elder in the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church.
He has served on many different boards and committees. |
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Dr. Lutgen developed and
served on the Conference Hispanic Initiative. |
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Dr. Lutgen chaired the
Missouri Area Mozambique Initiative Task Force 1998-2003. |
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Dr. Lutgen served on the
Conference Board of Global Ministries 1980-1988, chairing the
Board from 1984-1988 with major programs developed around the
Advance. |
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Dr. Lutgen has served on a
number of international and ecumenical boards and agencies
including Heifer Project International, Church World Service,
CASA of India and World Council of Churches/ACT. |
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Dr. Lutgen has served as
Director of reStart, (original Chairperson until 1992), Della
Lamb, Goodwill, New House and the Kingswood Boards, all of
Kansas City. |
Honors - Dr. Lutgen is the recipient of the
following awards:
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Robert and Martha Marble
Mission Award by Missouri West Annual Conference presented in
2001 |
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Outstanding Service Award
by The Alumni Association of Saint Paul School of Theology
presented in 1994 |
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Denman Evangelism Award by
The Foundation for Evangelism and Missouri West Annual
Conference presented in 1989 |
At Present - Dr. Lutgen is a member of the
following:
| Serves as Adjunct Faculty Saint Paul
School of Theology teaching "Mission of the Church in the
Contemporary World" and in the Course of Study, "Pastoral
Leadership and Administration". |
| Board of Directors and Treasurer of
Scarritt Bennett, a ministry of women's Division of United
Methodist Churches. |
| Advisory Board of Africa University,
the only private United Methodist University in Africa. |
| Raytown Advisory committee, Truman
Heartland Foundation. |
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Rev. Bryan Wendling,
Associate Pastor
bwendling@blueridgechurch.org
Bryan was born in Kansas City and grew up in Gladstone. He and
Brenda (his wife of 21 years) graduated from North Kansas City
High School in 1981. Brenda is a registered nurse and is currently
serving in the North Kansas City School District. Bryan and Brenda
are the proud parents of two teenage boys; Andy and Jake. Andy
graduated from Park Hill High School in ’07 and will be attending MO
Western University. Jake is a junior at Park Hill.
Education
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Bryan will resume
working towards a Masters of Divinity at Saint Paul School
of Theology in the fall of ‘07. |
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Bachelor of Arts |
Benedictine
College |
‘81 – ‘85 |
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MBA |
MidAmerica
Nazarene University |
‘98 – ‘99 |
Service
Service: Since January ‘05 Bryan has served as a Student Pastor at
Polo UMC and Cowgill UMC. Prior to taking on pastoral
responsibilities, Bryan attended Avondale UMC where he taught adult
Sunday school and had the opportunity to serve in multiple lay
leadership positions.
Corporate & Military Experience
Upon graduating from Benedictine College in ‘85, Bryan was
commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army and
served as a MEDEVAC helicopter pilot. He is a combat veteran and
left active duty in August ‘95 after achieving the rank of Major.
Prior to assuming duties at Blue Ridge, Bryan worked for CA
International in the Leawood, KS Office. He was responsible for
managing technical support and maintenance of CA software deployed
at three of CA’s local strategic accounts.
Hobbies
Bryan and Brenda love horses, being Jake’s soccer mom and dad, and
watching Andy perform (the drummer). Bryan enjoys waterskiing,
fishing...the whole lake scene in general.
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Linda Mann, Director
of Music/Organist
lmann@blueridgechurch.org
Linda plays piano and organ for weekly worship
services. She directs Cornerstone Praise Band, Youth Choir and the Hand
Bell Choirs. She Accompanies Chancel Choir, Men’s Ensemble and
Children’s Choir. Linda is also in charge of preparing special music for
worship services and other events, and planning with other music staff
for their groups. She meets with church staff to coordinate music with
other church activities. She also plays for weddings and funerals and
helps sponsor youth activities.
Linda grew up in Kansas City and moved to Raytown in 1963. She graduated
summa cum laude from Central Missouri State University in 1976 with a
degree in vocal Music Education with an emphasis in piano.
She married Hoot Mann in 1973 and they have three children: Joe, Sam and
John. Joe and his wife Beth have three children, Gabriel, Frankie and
Lillian and live in Grain Valley. Sam and his wife Jen, live in Lee's
Summit. John is a student at UMKC and currently lives at home.
Linda’s husband Hoot, plays tuba, trombone and string bass. He is a
pilot and owns a lighting and display company. He directs the church
orchestra, plays in the praise band, and is a youth sponsor.
Linda enjoys reading and word puzzles. She loves all things Scottish,
walking her black Labrador Retriever and of course playing the piano and
organ. She was first employed by the church in 1975 as accompanist to
the children’s choir. In 1976 she became the organist and in 1987, the
Director of Music. Since 1993 she has been the accompanist for the
Truman High School Choirs in Independence, and in 2003 for the
Independence Community Choir.
Linda was awarded a "Ministry of Music Award of Distinction" from the
National Religious Music Week Alliance in 2003. She is a member of the
American Guild of English Handbell Ringers and the American Guild of
Organists, from which she holds the Service Playing Certificate.
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Tammy
Bartley, Children and Family Ministries
tbartley@blueridgechurch.orgTammy
has had a life-long commitment to serving Christ through the teaching of
children. Growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, her family attended a small
church where she began teaching Sunday school at age 16.
After attending the University of Kansas, she moved to Kansas City to finish nursing school
and eventually moved to Raytown where she and her husband, Ed, started a
family and became members of Blue Ridge. They have two sons, Ethan and
Tristan.
The Bartley family hobby is music! Each one plays at least one
instrument, plays in church and community bands, and sing in choirs.
Music is a source of great joy for Tammy and is an important part of the
children's ministry at Blue Ridge!
Tammy's vision for the children's ministry at Blue Ridge is to help
parents create a strong and lasting foundation of faith that their
children can build their lives upon. Tammy believes the Christian faith
is more "caught" than "taught" and therefore looks to surround the
children of Blue Ridge with committed and nurturing adults to help
model Christ's love for them. Tammy wants every child to know that he or
she is a child of God, loved beyond measure by the Creator, and
important to our church family. At Blue Ridge children are not
considered the "church of tomorrow" but as valued members of our
congregation today.
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Anne
Norton, Youth Director
anorton@blueridgechurch.org
Anne grew up in Kansas City and has been living in
Raytown with husband Aaron since June 1998. They have three children;
Zoey, Maegan and Josh which keep them very busy! Anne loves dancing,
racing jet skis in the summer, camping and cooking. She has been
employed as Youth Director of Blue Ridge since November 2007. Anne is a
graduate of Raytown High School and has received numerous graduate
degrees in life experiences!
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Mary Alice McBain, Office
Manager
mamcbain@blueridgechurch.orgMary
Alice grew up in Northwest Missouri near Maryville and later moved to
Lathrop, Missouri.
Mary Alice, a widow, is blessed with her three married
children and their wonderful families. She currently has three
grandchildren and another one due this summer.
She has been employed at Blue Ridge since July, 2006. She taught Math
and Science for ten years before beginning her joy as Office Manager for
Liberty United Methodist Church. After eight years at the Liberty
church, she moved to the Office Manager position for the Heartland
Districts Office of the United Methodist Church where she remained for
the next 11 years.
Here at Blue Ridge, Mary Alice oversees all office procedures, accounts
payable, production of the bi-weekly Church Newsletter 'The ENVOY',
assists with building matters and the many day-to-day duties of the
office.
Mary Alice has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology, Math, Biology and Secondary Education.
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Phylis Goforth,
Kitchen Coordinator
pgoforth@blueridgechurch.orgPhylis' cooking journey probably started when
she had to have dinner on the table when her mom came home form work.
The most unpleasant memory of cooking was frying corndogs at little
league games. After flash frying her fingers, she thought she would
never cook again! Therefore, she'll call this (the church) her first
real cooking job.
Her next adventure in cooking was their tailgate party's at the Chief
games. They began with just her and her husband, Sam, but soon grew to as
many as forty fun loving fans. During this time, Phylis was taking
classes at Jaspers, which lasted 10 years. Her biggest thrill from that
was dining one night with Julia Childs!
Phylis has been employed at Blue Ridge since
July of 2006. She organizes menus for the many events of the church
including Sunday Brunches, small group luncheons, business meetings and
of course feeding as many as 200 adults and children on any given
Wednesday night during the Wednesday Night Live Sessions. Her planning
and organizational skills continue to amaze us as she takes something
that could normally be hectic and chaotic and turns it into a flawless,
smooth operation that not only is a pleasant experience but also tastes
good!
She admits it has been quite a challenge and she loves it. She has had
management experience in a large beauty salon before branching out into
business on her own. She opened her own salon in 1981 and in 1989 opened
a craft and antique business which now has become an embroidery
business. That was where the Church shirts were born!
Life began for Phylis on the east side of Kansas City. She lost
her
father at the age of five. Suddenly being by themselves, she and her
brother and mother all became very close. She has since lost her
brother, but continues to have a good relationship with her mother. She
is thankful for her church and faith that has helped to bring her
through it all.
A big suburban move, brought her to Raytown in the mid 60's. After
graduating from Raytown High School in 1969 she attended the
Independence School of Cosmetology.
Her competitive nature started very early. At age 12, she started
competing in roller skating. Her best award was a 5-State Regional
Championship in figure skating. Yes, she does critique the Olympics from
her chair at home! When she gave up skating, the competitive bowling
started. And we all know how useful a box of trophies can be after
thirty years!
After doing hair styling competition, she decided holding
positions in the Hairdressers Association was a more full-filling
venture. During her tenure as President, she met a man with four
adorable kids (Tyann, Kristy, Todd and Tonya). His name was Sam. They
were married in 1981. The most wonderful part of that union has turned
out to be the seven grandchildren (Alyssa, Tyler, Isaiah, Isaac, Brody,
Lexie and Ross). Well, maybe Sam, too!
As you can see, she tends to turn her hobbies and interests into jobs. As
much as she loves playing Bells at church, she has started Harmonica
classes. Linda and Chet, Phylis says your jobs are secure! She does still like
playing dress up, so that may explain why you may see Cher or a clown in
the halls! And that's how an over-achiever is born!
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Larry Madden, Property
Manager
lmadden@blueridgechurch.org
Larry is responsible for building
maintenance. He also services the two vans making sure they're in shape
and ready for Sunday as well as long and short distance field trips the
different classes often take. He also helps with security and set-up for
events and activities.
Larry was born in Princeton Indiana and grew up in Mt. Carmel, Illinois.
He ended up settling in Missouri via the Air Force. He and his wife
Jessica, who is from Brunswick, Missouri, were married in 1963. Their
oldest son Robert was born at Whiteman Air Force Base and their youngest
son Brian lives in Raytown with his wife Debbie and their three
children.
Larry traveled a lot as an over-the-road trucker before he retired, and
he’s looking forward to taking some more road trips with his wife.
Besides being a proud grandfather, Larry is a big NASCAR fan!
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