Meet Our Staff & Leaders

When not pastoring, Gary is Abiding Savior's "Vision Caster", projecting where the church is going and serving on the church council. Originally from Chatham, NJ, he's been at Abiding Savior since 2012. He and wife Sandy have two sons and a daughter. He loves barbecued and international food.

Sandy grew up in Ashland, NE around seven horses her family owned. Her favorite was Blaze, a quarter horse. She first attended Abiding Savior in 2013 with her son, then married Pastor Gary in 2014. Interesting fact? She has a degree in electronics. Email Sandy.

Eleanor is a 2nd generation Scottsdale resident who's played flute for the last 20 years with the Ahwatukee Foothills Concert Band. She's been the Abiding Savior office manager since about 2000 and has been a member since the early  1990's.

Kurt was raised in Burnetsville, Indiana. He moved to Arizona in 1965 and has attended Abiding Savior with his wife since 1970. He's been treasurer since 2017. He's the father of four boys and has two grandchildren. He says: "Eat dessert before the main meal, when possible."

Paul attended Abiding Savior regularly between 2009 and 2012, then moved out of state. Whenever he visited, he'd come to church. (His family has been attending since the early 90's). In the summer of 2022, he moved back to Arizona and to this church family. He participates regularly in the Thursday Night Men's Group and Sunday Morning Bible Studies.   

Barbara is from Elyria, Ohio. She left to get away from the cold and came to Scottsdale in 1979 with her husband and two boys, who were two and seven at the time. She was a licensed practical nurse for 46 years. Before retirement in 2012, she served at Scottsdale Osborn Medical Hospital and Hospice of the Valley. In 2014, her husband passed away from a very rare neurological disease. They’d been together 47 years. Barbara has been at Abiding Savior Lutheran since 2017. “I love this church. I love its people and Pastor Gary. I live in a retirement mobile home park, and I have a lot of friends-type family there, but having a church family is like a bonus. It's been really great.”

Meri was born in Billings, Montana and now lives in Chandler. She's been at Abiding Savior about 3 years. She has eight kids between the ages of 28 and 39 (3 by birth, 5 adopted) with no plans to retire from this job. When all her kids were in school during the day, she was in commercial real estate, but being a mom was always her first and hardest job. She’s still taking in teens to early 20’s and offering them a home.

Doug is a "mostly retired" consultant from Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has been in the southwest for over 40 years. He currently lives in Tempe with his wife, Michell. They're coming up on two years going to Abiding Savior. Doug has one son, a pilot in the Coast Guard who (along with Doug's two grandkids) are stationed in Kodiak, Alaska.

Carol was born into a career military family, the longest she lived anywhere was 2 1/2 years in a small tornado-prone town outside Kansas City, MO. The fact that she (with her husband, Kurt, and our four sons) have been a member of Abiding Savior Lutheran Church for 54 years is "mind-blowing" she says. "In those years, God has provided many opportunities to team up with my sisters and brothers here, in "being" the church. Connecting people with Jesus is great a great pleasure."

Lew was born in Elkhart, Indiana. He's attended Abiding Savior since 1977 and is married with two kids and three grand kids. He's a shellback and interested in genealogy. He also leads the Thursday Night Men's Group.

Joey is a Phoenix native. He first attended Abiding Savior in 1976. He's authored and ghostwritten 32 books of fiction and nonfiction and is a journalist & photographer for the Northeast Valley News. He's also a full time honor's student at Scottsdale Community College. His major is creative writing with plans to attend ASU in 2026 for his Bachelors, followed by his MFA at an ivy league-caliber school with a comparable level of prestige and rigorous standards.

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Email Joey with website questions or suggestions, here.