Staff
Names and Biographies
Rev. Marty Springer, Senior Pastor
The Reverend Martin R. Springer is the Senior Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and School of Edwardsville, Illinois.
Martin R. Springer was born on September 4th, 1957 in Brawley, California. He is the second of two sons born to the late Marshall R. and Doris Milam Springer. Pastor Springer was raised in and attended school in Southern California; graduating from Brawley Union High School in 1975. Springer began working in the banking and insurance industry while attending Junior College on a part-time basis. Martin entered the United States Air Force in December of 1982, and served on active duty for four years. The highlight of his Air Force career was his selection to work in the Office of Presidential Protocol at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. during the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Springer left the active duty Air Force in December of 1986, and entered the United Sates Air Force Reserve, serving in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (A.F.O.S.I.) until 1998. In 1986, Martin was selected to fill a Civil Service position at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. He served as the Director of Personnel for an Air Force telecommunications contracting agency, where he was responsible for all aspects of Manpower, Personnel and Training until he resigned from that position to enter Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis, Missouri) in 1997. Springer was recalled to active duty for six months in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and received the Air Force Achievement Medal for his service. Seminarian Springer performed his Field Education (Pre-Vicarage) training at Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church in O'Fallon, Illinois in 1997 and 1998. He was placed as Vicar (Pastoral Intern) of Saint John Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Chester, Illinois in January 1999, was Ordained as a Pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in January of 2000, and was Called to be the Associate Pastor of Saint John-Chester. In addition to his myriad duties at Saint John Church and School, Pastor Springer served as Chairman of the Chester Veterans Memorial Committee and also served as a member of the Chester Board of Parks and Recreation. He was named the Outstanding Citizen of Chester, Illinois in 2001. He served Saint John Church and School until November of 2002 when he accepted The Call to serve as Pastor of Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Imperial, (Otto) Missouri where he served until August of 2008.
Reverend Springer is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois with Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Human Resources Development (H.R.D.). He graduated from Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri in 1999. Pastor Springer is certified as both a Stephen Ministry Trainer, and as a Prepare and Enrich Pre-and Post-Marriage Counseling Facilitator. He has completed his first phase of Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.) through the Alexian Brothers Medical System in Saint Louis, Missouri. In 2005, Pastor Springer was nominated by Missouri District President James Kaltoff to be a Facilitator for the Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support (P.A.L.S.) Initiative. Pastor Springer is married to the former Janice Hertlein of Saint Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Springer has taught in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Day School System for over thirty-five years and is currently a third grade teacher at Zion Lutheran School, Belleville, Illinois, where she has taught for over twenty years.
Pastor Mark Sell, Visitation Pastor
The Reverend Mark E. Sell currently serves as a pastoral assistant at two congregations of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. At Trinity Lutheran Church and School of Edwardsville, Illinois Pastor Sell serves the seniors of the congregation through homebound visits and preaches quarterly. At Immanuel Lutheran Church of Wentzville, Missouri, Pastor Sell serves as a pastoral assistant to the Senior Pastor.
Mark Sell was born on October 8, 1958 in Detroit, Michigan and is the older of two boys born to Edward and Eleanor Sell. Pastor Sell attended Lutheran schools from Kindergarten through Seminary and fond of saying, “I’m a pastor because of the witness and commitment of my Lutheran school teachers.”
Pastor Sell has served in many vocations including running a painting business to get through college and seminary to management with Honey Baked, a retail food company. In his service of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod he has taught in her grade schools, high schools, colleges, and seminaries. During his time as the pastor of Trinity Lutheran, St. George Utah he shepherded the congregation in her ministry to establish a Lutheran Grade School and was instrumental in developing the Hospice program of Dixie Regional Medical Center while serving as the program’s first professional chaplain. Pastor Sell also served on the hospital’s ethics board and was instrumental in writing professional protocol for the state’s hospital chaplaincy programs.
Pastor graduated from Lutheran High School East, Harper Woods, Michigan in 1976 and worked for Chrysler Corporation on the assembly line after which, he entered Concordia Ann Arbor and graduated in 1981. After working for Honey Baked in Chicago, he entered Concordia Theological Seminary and graduated in 1988. He received his Masters of Sacred Theology in 1992. While working on his graduate degree he served as a pastoral assistant at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne. His first call was to Trinity Lutheran Church, St. George, Utah in 1990. While at Trinity, he began his PhD. Work and completed his coursework and testing. In 1998, he accepted a call to the Senior Pastor position at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Clinton Township Michigan. During his tenure at St. Luke, he also taught Greek at Concordia University, Ann Arbor as a guest instructor and the church elected him to the Board of Directors of Concordia Publishing House. In 2001, Pastor Sell accepted a call to serve at Concordia Publishing House as the Senior Editor of academic, professional, and consumer books. In 2004, he accepted a call as the Executive Director of Friends of Mercy, a Recognized Service Organization of Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod World Relief and Human Care where he developed and implemented a program to fund human care projects in Kenya, Africa to care for widows and orphans of AIDS epidemic.
Associate Pastor John Shank, Outreach and Assimilation Ministry
John C. Shank was born July 22, 1980 and he was born into the body of Christ through Holy Baptism August 24, 1980, at Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church in Brighton, Michigan. He was born and raised in Howell, Michigan; this is also where he lived until going to the seminary, in Fort Wayne Indiana. John graduated Howell High School with honors in 1999.
John attended Lansing Community College for a year and a half where he was accepted into Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. After this he transferred to William Tyndale College and graduated Summa Cumulate with a B.A. in Business Administration and a Minor in Christian Thought in 2003. John was then employed at ABN AMRO Mortgage Company as a Mortgage Banking Specialist. He worked at ABN AMRO until he went to the seminary in 2006. At the seminary, he preformed his field work training at Our Hope Lutheran Church and School, in Huntertown, Indiana. He has currently completed his three years of class work at the seminary and he is now at Trinity Lutheran Ministries working on his vicarage year.
Pastor Shank and Casey were happily married July 10, 2004. After they were married they became active in their church’s new daughter congregation, Heart of the Shepherd Lutheran Church. Heart of the Shepherd has been a blessing to their faith and to their future ministry in the Church. At Heart of the Shepherd Lutheran Church, John was active on the Board of Elders where the other men really took him under their wing and showed him how they care for the people of the Church. Casey became active in the planning and hiring of the staff for the child development center. She was also employed by this center for two summers while she was off from teaching. This church and thier family there will always have a special place in their hearts and prayers.
Pastor Shank and his wife were blessed on March 26, 2008 with the birth of their son, John Charles Shank II, whom they call “Jack”. He has been a complete and total blessing in their lives. This last year he has grown so fast and learns new things almost daily.
God through our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed every step of Pastor Shank’s life, though not every step was easy, smooth and without rocks and bumps. There have been some skinned knees on the way, but the Lord has always guided and directed him for He is a loving and faithful God.
Mr. Eric Dunn, Director of Christian Education
Steven “Eric” Dunn is the Director of Christian Education (DCE) at Trinity Lutheran Ministries, Edwardsville, Illinois.
Eric Dunn was born on January 21, 1983 in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the older of two sons of Steve and Cindy Dunn. He also has one brother, Chris, who is 21. Eric attended Immanuel Lutheran School in Olivette, Missouri from 1st through 8th grade. He graduated from Lutheran High School in St. Peters, Missouri in 2001. Eric then attended Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska where he graduated in January 2006 with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a DCE certification with an emphasis in youth ministry and family life ministry. He served his internship at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tilden, Nebraska from January 2005 until January of 2006. He then took a call there and served for another 9 months. While at Immanuel he worked with the youth programs, Sunday school, Christmas programs, VBS and many other things. He then took a call to serve as the DCE at St. Peters Lutheran Church in East Peoria, Illinois. While at St. Peters he started to implement a family ministry program and was also very active with the college aged youth in the congregation.
At Trinity, Eric oversees the Christian education for the congregation. This includes, but is not limited to: adult bible classes, Sunday school, small group ministry, Jr. and Sr. high youth groups, and public school confirmation. Eric also is a member of the Youth Advisory Council of the Southern Illinois District. Eric is married to Melissa Dunn (Morrison). They were married in September of 2008 at Trinity and are expecting their first child in June 2010.
Beth Gooden, Acting School Principal
Jan Arneson, Music Director
Keri Morrison, School Administrative Assistant
Connie Grotefendt, Church Secretary
Della Field, Business Manager
Staff Contact Information
Trinity Lutheran Church
Address
600 Water Street
Edwardsville, Illinois 62025
Phone
Church: (618) 656-2918
School: (618) 656-7002
Daycare: (618) 656-0411
Fax: (618) 656-5941
Church: tlchurch.tle@gmail.com
School: tlschool.tle@gmail.com
Contacting The Pastors and DCE
Reverend Martin R. Springer – Senior Pastor
Home: (618) 633-2131
Mobile: (314) 971-4564
E-mail: mspringer.tle@gmail.com
Reverend Mark Sell – Visitation Pastor
Home: (314) 259-1575
Mobile: (314) 807-9570
E-mail: mark@thefriendsofmercy.org
Vicar John Shank – Outreach and Assimilation
Home: (618) 505-3868
Mobile: (618) 407-1067
E-mail: jshank.tle@gmail.com
Eric Dunn – Director of Christian Education
Mobile: (618) 406-4152
E-mail: edunn.tle@gmail.com
