St. John's Lutheran Church

Interim Pastor: Rev. Dr. C. Peter Setzer
stjohnscpsetzer@bellsouth.net

The Rev. Dr. C. Peter Setzer has been serving as interim pastor at St. John’s since December, ’07. He served as Senior Pastor at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Charlotte for 17 years prior to his retirement in ’04. He also served 17 years as Sr. Pastor at Holy Trinity, Gastonia, ’70-’87, and mission developer and first pastor of The Lutheran Church of the Living Word in Laurinburg, NC, ’65-’70. He and his wife, Dr. Sue Setzer, a diaconal minister in the ELCA and teacher at Union Theological Seminary (PSCE) at Charlotte live in Charlotte. They have two grown children, David and Joy. St. John’s is Pastor Setzer’s third interim church.

Music Department

Director of Music: Chuck Lindler
Worship Leader (8:30 am): Martha Childs

Chuck Lindler
Chuck was born in Winston-Salem, NC, then moved to Statesville in 1954, and attended St. John's on Mulberry Street as a child.

He is a 1970 graduate of Statesville High School, and attended Mitchell College, Appalachian State University and graduated from Catawba College, Salisbury in 1974 with a B.A. in Religion and Music.

Chuck has served as an organist-choirmaster for 21 years in Lutheran, Catholic, and Episcopal churches in Statesville.

He maintains professional memberships in the American Lutheran Church Musicians and The American Guild of Organists-Hickory, NC, chapter.

Chuck sees music in the church as a "pastoral" ministry caring for it's members and leading the church's music and worship as sung prayer through liturgy and praise.

Martha Childs
As a teenager, Martha was called by her Heavenly Father to be in His service and has 36 years of experience in church music. Martha is married to Rev. Sam Childs. They have three married children in God’s service.

The 8:30 AM music service is focused on praise and worship to our Triune God: Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Musicians include guitarists, a keyboardist, soloists and a choir.

Director of Preschool: Susan White
stjohnssusan@bellsouth.net

Our weekday preschool seeks to prepare young children for elementary school. As Director, Susan White has been at St. John’s since 2004. She is a native of Iredell County and graduated from Mitchell Community College and Gardner Webb University. She is married and has two children. With fourteen years spent in childcare, along with volunteering at her children’s schools in a variety of capacities, Susan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role. Her dedication and love for young children is demonstrated daily in her administration of the Preschool Program.

Click here for more information about St. John’s Weekday Preschool Program.

Director of Children's Ministry: Sharon Karriker
Sharon's Page

Sharon Karriker is our Director of Children’s Ministry. This part-time position was created in order to meet the needs of our growing families. Starting in January of 2006, Sharon brought to this position a love of Christ, a passion for children and a sincere willingness to serve St. John’s Lutheran. She and her family had been active at St. Johns for about two years. She is the mother of 3 daughters whose ages span from high school down to 1st grade. She has 10 years experience in children’s ministry and 2 years in youth ministry serving as a counselor in a teen outreach ministry.

Click here for more information about the Children's Ministry at St. John's.

Administrative Support Staff:

Two individuals attend to the daily administrative and financial tasks of St. John’s:

Janine Dopirak
serves as the church secretary.

Carol Brazel
serves as our financial secretary.

Both ladies ensure that all the little details of running a church office are taken care of expertly.