Mary Sue graduated from Valparaiso University in English and Theology, received her M.Div from Luther Northwestern Seminary and her Ph.D from Luther Seminary. She was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1981, and served 25 years with her co-pastor husband in ALC/ELCA Lutheran congregations (1981-2006).

Mary Sue is associate professor of pastoral care and missional leadership at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina. She is editor of Created and Led by the Spirit: Planting Missional Congregations (2013)in Eerdman’s Missional Church Series. She has written a variety of book chapters, journal articles, and church resources, including a book of sermons, The Home Stretch, on lessons from Matthew for Cycle A.