Rev. Bryan Drebes is Pastor at Pacific Hills Lutheran Church in Omaha Nebraska

Pastor Drebes attended Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, beginning in 1997.  He spent the summer of 1999 teaching English to Chinese middle school teachers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.  He served a four-month vicarage at St. John Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Wisconsin, followed by eight months at Bethany Lutheran Church, Overland Park, Kansas. Pastor Drebes was ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry at Zion Lutheran Church, Palmyra, Missouri on August 19, 2001, and installed as Associate Pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, Overland Park, Kansas on September 9, 2001.  He served Bethany for 14 years.  Pastor Drebes accepted a Divine Call to be Senior Pastor at Pacific Hills Lutheran Church in November, 2015.

Pacific Hills Lutheran Church

Pastor Moorhead served Pacific Hills Lutheran Church, 1977 until 2014, when he retired.  He has a Doctor of Ministry degree (1986).  Before coming to Omaha Pastor Moorhead served a dual parish near Herington, KS, 1973-1977.  Pastor Moorhead and his wife, Martha, grew up in Lawrence, KS.  Martha has a business degree from the University of Kansas in Lawrence.  Pastor is a 1973 graduate of Concordia, Seminary, St. Louis.

Rev. Joel Clarion Fritsche serves the Lord as missionary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in the Dominican Republic. In this role, Joel plants new churches in this country. He forms and develops groups of believers into mature, self-sustaining and self-replicating congregations through Word and Sacrament ministry. Joel also serves as the director of Concordia Seminary and Mercy Center in Palmar Arriba (which is in the Santiago province of the Dominican Republic). As director, he teaches courses and helps prepare men to be pastors who proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this country and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Joel was born in Houston, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward, and received his Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Before becoming a missionary, he served as a pastor of congregations in Wyoming, Texas and Illinois. He also worked as an admissions counselor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Rev. Dr. Michael L. Kumm served as Vacancy Pastor for Pastor Drebes during his sabbatical (Spring 2019)

The Rev. Dr. Michael L. Kumm, is a retired LCMS pastor from Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. He currently serves as the Chairman of the LCMS Board of Directors, St. Louis, MO. Dr. Kumm has served churches in South Dakota and Southern Illinois as well as on the professional staff of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. While serving these local congregations, he has served his community as a law enforcement chaplain and has served as the District Pastoral Advisor for the Lutheran Layman’s League; Circuit Counselor and as a delegate to Synod conventions. Due to his expertise in the broadcast media, Dr. Kumm also served as the Interim General Manager of the Synod-owned KFUO radio station. Additionally, Dr. Kumm serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the International Lutheran Society of Wittenberg (ILSW), a joint corporation of the LCMS and our German partner Church, the SELK.

LCMS Seminaries
Dr. Kumm graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, where he also completed a Master of Arts degree in Practical Theology. He successfully defended his dissertation, “Pastoral Care and Theology in Strife-torn Congregations,” and earned his Ph.D. degree in Pastoral Theology and Apologetics from Trinity Theological Seminary, Newburgh, Indiana.

Military Service
Dr. Kumm is a Vietnam Veteran and retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve after 30 years as a Chief Master Sergeant. He is honored to serve with the Patriot Guard and the American Legion Riders motorcycle groups in honoring departed veterans and their families, by providing escorts and flag lines at times of funerals and burials. Dr. Kumm is married to Janet and has four children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.