Dan is a pastor, teacher, author and illustrator who currently serves part-time at Immanuel Lutheran Church in downtown Seattle. Dan has served as a pastor in many settings including Holden Village and Pacific Lutheran University campus ministry. Dan began teaching at Holden in 1979 and is "seriously" committed to the tradition of Holden Hilarity. Dan has published numerous books and teaching materials that have helped to shape the spiritual lives of many including Manna and Mercy, Baptized We Live, A Place for You, Let the Children Come, Water Washed and Spirit Born, and It’s All About Love. Dan lives on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound and enjoys pointless walks on Useless Bay with his wife Karen.
Mary Preus is a singer, teacher, worship leader, and choir director. She has been working in Lutheran, UCC, and ecumenical faith communities for fifteen years. Mary is currently the music director at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN and the worship coordinator for the ecumenical Community of St. Martin (also in Minneapolis). She is a member of two worship leading music groups: Bread for the Journey and Cross Culture. Mary helps to teach others how to enliven worship with her colleagues (and friends) Tom Witt, Susan Briehl, Daniel Erlander and Marty Haugen through a program called Living Liturgy. She is a member of the Hymnody Editorial Team for the ELCA’s Renewing Worship project.
Tom Witt has been keyboardist, worship leader, song-leader for a wide variety of Lutheran and ecumenical church events. He has a depth of resources in worship planning and leads workshops on music, liturgy and contemporary society. During 1998-99, Tom served as musician-in-residence at Holden. He co-founded and still performs with the ensemble Bread for the Journey, based in Minneapolis, Minn. He also works for the ELCA's Division for Global Mission as the coordinator for Liberia Networking and Support.. He has released a recording of his own instrumental improvisations on hymns in the Lutheran Book of Worship, entitled “Dusting Off the Green Book.”
(Bio from summer 2004)