Meet the Staff at St. Paul's
Rev. Martin Gehring
Pastor
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We welcome Pastor Martin Gehring to St. Paul's!
His first official day was July 26, 2021.
Pastor Martin Gehring grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana, and attended Valparaiso University where he earned a degree in theology. He worked nine years as a newspaper illustrator and designer in Indiana, Texas, and Tennessee before attending Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. He earned a Master of Divinity and was ordained in 1997. Since then, he has served churches in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio while also serving on synod council, recruitment and discipline committees, and as head of his ministerium.
When he isn’t working, Martin enjoys spending time with family, reading, renovating and riding old bicycles, building wood ship models, hiking, history, and repairing assorted “stuff.”
Martin is married to Ruth, who is an artist and a recently published writer. They have two adult children, William and Allison, both living in Ohio.
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Parish Organist
Tim Utterback
Choir & Jubilate Ringers Director
Dustin Hill
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Dustin Hill is the Covenant Choir and Jubilate Ringers Director here at St. Paul’s. He is a proud double graduate of Bowling Green State University, as well as being a graduate of Newark High School here in town. He obtained his Master’s degree in Choral Conducting in 2013, and has directed many church choirs over the years, and taught at two different universities. He has had the chance to conduct a symphony orchestra, as well as large and small choral ensembles, ranging from groups of six to well over 100 at times!
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His Bachelor’s degree is in vocal performance. He performed professional Opera as the principal tenor for the Toledo Opera company for several seasons. Currently, he performs and sings with the illustrious Lancaster Chorale here in Central Ohio and does for-hire Solo work for Oratorio settings. He plays the trombone in a local brass quartet (Legend Land Brass Band), and sings baritone in the local barbershop quartet, Premium Blend.
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By day, he is the Sales & Store Manager at the Sleep Number store located on Polaris Parkway. For fun, he adores spending time with his wife and girls. They love taking trips to the Zoo, COSI, and Wildwood Park in Granville. In his free time, he loves to play video games, watch sports (football and basketball), spend time with friends, and, of course, listen to classical music! He is a major foodie and is always excited to try new places, and new-to-me flavor profiles. He is very excited to be here at St. Paul’s.
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Jodie Nickles - Parish Office Secretary
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Jodie has been the Parish Secretary at St. Paul's since January of 2018.
Jodie is a lifelong resident of Newark and retired from the Federal Government
after 28 years of service. She has one son and enjoys
gardening, reading, needlepoint and caring for her rescue dogs and cats.
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