What is the Commission on Worship?
The Commission on Worship serves the Synod by holding high the wondrous gifts that the Triune God gives through His holy Word and Sacraments. Through a variety of literature, the Commission seeks to "develop and deepen an understanding and love for the Lutheran heritage in Christian worship." In addition, the Commission prepares and/or recommends worship materials to the Synod that incorporate both the riches of the past with that which is faithful from the present so that in our worship our voices are joined with fellow believers of every time and place.

Contact Information
Email: worship@lcms.org
Mail: LCMS Commission on Worship
       1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.
       St. Louis, Missouri  63122
Phone: (800) 248-1930, ext. 1265

Who serves on the Commission on Worship?
The Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod is appointed by the president of the Synod after consultation with the vice-presidents. It consists of seven members, including ordained and commissioned ministers and laypersons.

Commission Members

Commission Staff

Meet the Commission
(February 2008)

The seven members of the Commission on Worship are appointed by the President of Synod to serve a three-year term. Each commission member brings unique gifts to the task of serving as leaders in the area of worship for our Synod.

Gary Juhl
Gary is a lay member of the commission from San Antonio, Texas. Gary and Debbie, his wife of 39 years, are active members of Concordia Lutheran Church, San Antonio. The Juhls have two children and four grandchildren.
     Gary has been involved with church administration from a lay leadership perspective for many years and in many ways, including serving as president of Faith Lutheran, Oakville, Missouri, as well as Concordia, San Antonio. He has an intense interest in worship and its many forms. His participation in choirs and praise teams, his understanding of a wide variety of music as it relates to worship, and his desire to continue the increased use of theologically appropriate diverse worship settings will add a strong and steady influence to the commission during this triennium.

Mary Mountford
Mary grew up in a small town at a small Lutheran church in Alta Vista, Kansas. She attended public schools through high school, at which time she felt a calling to teach. After attending St. John’s College, Winfield, she transferred to Concordia, Seward.
     Mary’s first call was to St. Mark, Houston, where she taught third grade, kindergarten, and pre-kindergarten. It was during those first few years that she discovered a missing link in the children’s curriculum—music!—and she began pursuing classes to equip her to teach music to the children. For more than 30 years, Mary has developed a real passion for children in worship and music.
     Mary had a dream: It’s being produced and developed right now for the Synod at large! Look for a DVD to arrive at every church and school in our Synod this summer. It’s titled “Children Making Music,” and it suggests ways that your child can learn to love music! Musicians are such a wonderful asset to great worship. How could you show appreciation to the musicians you have in your church, and cultivate new ones for the church in the future?

Bobby Schroeder
Bobby has been the Director of Worship and the Arts at St. John Lutheran in Ellisville, Missouri since 1992. Bobby graduated with a major in Church Music in 1988 and an Elementary Education degree from Concordia University in Austin, Texas in 1990. For nine years before returning to college, Bobby was a golf pro in Southeast Texas and a volunteer organist and choir director at Trinity Lutheran Church, Port Arthur, Texas.
     Bobby and his wife, Julie, compose music together. Two of their songs have been selected as the theme song for National Lutheran Schools Week. They have also composed two children’s worship musicals—“Celebrate God’s Love” and “Hearts 4 Jesus”—that have been performed by schools and churches across the nation. Their newest project is a collection of children’s music called “That’s the Joy!”
 Bobby’s experiences with various forms of worship contribute a fresh and culturally-relevant perspective on worship as it relates to our mission to reach the lost. It is with a mission focus that the commission can best serve congregations by offering ideas, resources, and support for designing worship that is: 1) edifying and equipping for believers; and 2) inviting, helpful, and gospel-oriented for seekers and the non-churched.

Linda Stoterau, Secretary
After graduating from Concordia College, St. Paul, Minnesota, Linda taught elementary school in LCMS schools for three years, later teaching junior high mathematics and algebra in Mesa, Arizona. She is currently the Elementary Curriculum Coordinator in the Orange Unified School District in California.
     While at Concordia, she studied church organ with Paul Manz and choral conducting with Robert Dosien and has served as Director of Music in three LCMS parishes: St. Matthew, St. Louis; Emmaus, Alhambra, California; and Epiphany, Chandler, Arizona. In those congregations, she was both organist and choir director. While in Chandler, she was responsible for organ, scheduling five musical groups, and planning four services each weekend in three musical styles.
  Linda has been married for 38 years to Larry Stoterau, LCMS pastor and current president of the Pacific Southwest District of the LCMS.
  Her background in both education and LCMS worship life assists the commission in its responsibility for providing relevant resources for the congregations of our Synod.

Rev. Dr. William G. Utech
Dr. Utech is Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Resident Field Education at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. He also serves as vacancy pastor and vicarage supervisor at Christ in the City Lutheran Church/CRAVE Coffeehouse, an innovative “mission restart” of the Missouri District that reaches out to the students of St. Louis University and surrounding community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As one of Concordia Seminary’s homiletics instructors, he is very much interested in helping the Commission on Worship help Synod’s pastors and congregations to communicate the Gospel (in word and song) in ways that post-modern, post-literate, and post-Christian people can actually hear.

Rev. Tom Van Duzer, Vice Chairman
As a three-time church planter, Pastor Van Duzer has had the responsibility of forming worshiping communities. His experience as a teen in an effective evangelistic congregation helped him see what an effective tool a powerful, dynamic, and Christ-centered worship service can be for winning people to Christ and mobilizing Christians for witness.
     Pastor Van Duzer considers the worship service to be the most visible hour of the week for any congregation. In order to connect the living Jesus to a dying world, he believes we must communicate the Good News effectively and motivate our people powerfully. Jesus used diverse means to communicate and motivate. The early Christians brought the Gospel to new languages and cultures. He feels we must do the same.
     Pastor Van Duzer considers the many gifted and talented worship leaders throughout our Synod to be a true gift from God. It would be a great blessing to the church to connect worship leaders and facilitate the sharing of ideas between them, especially with those in congregations that are leaders in effective soul-winning.

Rev. Dr. Gregory J. Wismar, Chairman
Since worship is the heart of the church, the Commission on Worship is like a “cardiac team” that maintains the beat of that heart for the Synod. With more than five terms of service on the commission, Dr. Wismar has been associated with a variety of gifted “worship cardiac teams” of commission members. With many years of writing and editing worship materials, Greg brings to the commission chairmanship a broad background in Lutheran worship as well as a fond appreciation for the many servants of the church whose diverse talents in this vital area continue to be a blessing.