Our Staff

1. Senior Pastor
2. Pastor of Congregational Care
3. Associate Pastor of Youth Ministry
4. Director of Music Ministries
5. Director of Children's Ministries
6. Worship Coordinator
7. Church Business Administrator
8. Administrative Assistant
9. Ministry Assistant
10. Minister of Discipleship Development
11. Hospitality Coordinator

Dr. Deborah Wallace-Padgett

Senior Pastor, E-mail

Padgett was appointed to St. Luke in 2004. She is a graduate of Berea College, Scarritt College and Graduate School, Lexington Theological Seminary and Asbury Seminary. Pastor Debbie has served as Director of Christian Education at Epworth United Methodist Church, Director of Leadership Development at Lexington First United Methodist Church, Pastor at Paris First United Methodist Church and District Superintendent of the Prestonsburg District. She is married to Rev. Lee Padgett, Director of Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center. They have two children, Leanndra and Andrew.

Dr. Lowell Langefeld

Pastor of Congregational Care, E-mail

Dr. Lowell Langefeld came out of retirement to join the staff of St. Luke in 2001. He served the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church for 42 years. He has served Mt. Beulah, Claylick, Louisa Methodist, Aldersgate in Lexington, Prestonsburg First, Pikeville and Ashland First as minister. Lowell also served as Superintendent of the Barboursville and Frankfort Districts. On two occasions, he has served as interim Superintendent of the Redbird Missionary Conference. Dr. Lowell attended Asbury College, Asbury Seminary and Lexington Theological Seminary. Lowell and Betty, his wife of 50 years, have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

Dr. Mike Voigts

Associate Pastor of Youth Ministry, E-mail

Mike Voigts has served as a pastor in The United Methodist Church since 1993. In 2005 he transferred to the Kentucky Annual Conference. From 2001-2004, Mike served as the Director of Alumni and Church Ministries at Asbury Theological Seminary. He led the "God's Backyard" children's worship service at St. Luke from 2002-2007. He is an Adjunct Instructor of Christian Leadership and Discipleship at Asbury Seminary. In July 2007, Mike was appointed to St. Luke as the Associate Pastor of Youth Ministries. Mike received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University. He also holds a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary, and is a Ph.D. candidate at Brunel University in London, England in the area of historical theology. Mike and his wife Sheryl have been married for 17 years and have two children, Daniel and Julianne. In his spare time, Mike enjoys writing, photography, playing guitar, and J.R.R. Tolkien lore. He is also a Die-Hard Chicago Cubs fan.

Linda Edmister

Director of Music Ministries, E-mail

Linda Edmister joined St. Luke as the Director of Music Ministries in 2005. She and her husband, Brent will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in December and in that time they've lived in 12 different homes on 3 different continents and 5 different states. Along the way they were joined by Megan in Germany (1983) and Larry in Louisiana (1987). They're happy to be in Lexington again and are ready to put down some roots!!! Larry is a Freshman at UK this fall, and Megan will graduate from Azusa Pacific University in California in May with plans to move to Kentucky afterwards. Linda was raised in the United Methodist Church (when they were living in the States). During their years in the Army they attended chapel and grew to appreciate the traditions, worship styles, and music of many different denominations. When stationed in Australia they worshipped at a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church and an Australian Baptist church. While there they were exposed to a wealth of great music and preaching (gotta love the accent!), and now she is excited about sharing all those experiences through the music ministry at St. Luke.

Susan Cutshall

Director of Children's Ministries, E-mail

Along with the Children's Ministry Leadership Team, Susan heads up the children's ministries ranging from the nurseries to 5th grade. A full time job for our very important children. Susan joined the staff in 1994. She has a B.S. in Education from the University of Tennessee and an M.S. in Education from Indiana University. Susan is a presenter for Children's Ministry Seminars and leads workshops at Children's Pastors' Conference. She taught school for 10 years prior to joining St. Luke. Susan and her husband, Greg, have two children, Lance and Lauren.

Sue Lord

Worship Coordinator, E-mail

After working with the choir and the church music program since 1978, Sue became Worship Coordinator in 2005. In addition to working with the Worship and the Audio/Visual Teams, Sue will continue to teach music to the children and to work on children's programming. Sue hails from Wisconsin and has a Bachelor Degree in Music Education from Lawrence University and a Masters Degree in Music Education from Ithaca College. She taught music in the public schools of Columbus IN, West Bend WI, Guam, and Ithaca NY. When Sue isn't at St. Luke, look for her gardening, composing music for children, or spending time with her husband Chuck or daughters Karen, Ellen, and Rebecca.

Paul Bramel

Church Business Administrator, E-mail

A long-time resident of Lexington and a member of St. Luke since 1989, Paul joined the staff in June, 2003. He held numerous positions at Long John Silver's during his 23-year tenure where he was most recently Director, Communications and Web Services. Paul and his wife, Diane, have three children, two grandsons, one granddaughter and a very spoiled Shih Tzu pup. When Paul is not 'administrating' for St. Luke, he will most likely be found fishing, reading or performing genealogy research. He especially enjoys fly-fishing and travel.

Brooke Harris

Administrative Assistant, E-mail

Brooke Harris joined St. Luke in June, 2007 as our Administrative Assistant. In this position, Brooke coordinates volunteers, designs and prints the bulletin weekly and maintains the church calendar among other office tasks. She loves seeing the behind the scenes of a growing and serving church. In the time that she has worked here, she has a deeper appreciation for St. Luke and all that the church does. Brooke just recently married Aaron Harris on June 9, 2007. She graduated from Asbury College with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in art. Her husband Aaron is a senior pre-med student at UK. Brooke's family has been members at St. Luke since December 1999.

Dawn Wallin

Ministry Assistant, E-mail

Dawn first attended St. Luke in August of 2001. She was baptized and joined St. Luke on April 23, 2002. She teaches Sunday School to our preschoolers, team leader of the St. Luke Card Ministry and a member of the Cornerstone Sunday School Family. In 1990, she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from the University of Georgia and has two minors, Economics and Latin. She and her husband of 16 years, Eric, moved to Lexington in 1991. They have three daughters, Julia (10), Amanda (8), and Brenna (6).

Dawn Beamish

Minister of Discipleship Development

Jesus said, "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends." [Rev. 3:20, NLT]. Dawn Beamish's call to ministry is invitational, so that all may invite Christ in and become his disciples and as they mature spiritually in the Lord, that they may strive to become disciple makers to build up the Body of Christ, God's church. The stained glass image of Christ knocking at the door which adorned Dawn's hometown church has inspired her faith journey. Her ministry journey began by teaching secondary education (health, science, nutrition and consumer ed.), serving as a local pastor in a three point charge in Big Rapids, Michigan, studying at Asbury Theological Seminary to earn a Master's in Divinity and serving as Kidz4Christ Ministry leader at St. John's UMC in Sarasota, FL prior to joining St. Luke's staff in 2008. She has also earned a Master's in Science Ed from The Ohio State University, and Bachelor's of Science in Life Management Education from the University of Akron. Her hometown is Parma, Ohio. Dawn and her husband, Rick have been married for 24 years and their son, Eric, resides in Ann Arbor, MI. Rick and Dawn have sailed over 20,000 miles mostly on the Great Lakes. Dawn enjoys swimming, kayaking, backpacking and skiing (all three). Kodiak their Husky/Chow pooch is an active therapy dog who brings mirth and cheer to students and the elderly.

Jill Molinari

Hospitality Coordinator

Jill Molinari and her family have been members of St. Luke for 10 years. She is originally from Illinois, however, has lived in Kentucky for 26 years. Jill moved to Kentucky in 1982 to break into the thoroughbred business. She holds a Secretarial Science degree as well as an Equine Therapeutic degree. She treated injured racehorses with physical therapy. She met her husband, Miguel, working with horses. Jill and Miguel have four children: Mandy, Mick, Alex and Zachary. Jill is involved at St. Luke teaching pre-school children, helping out in God's Backyard, volunteering for Vacation Bible School, participating in Wednesday Night Prayer Group and G.R.O.W. Jill is a part of St. Luke's P.E.T.S. (Pets Enrich The Soul) Ministry. She loves taking her two dogs, Isabelle and Gabriel, to nursing homes for visits.