OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Pastor Deb Monnin

Support Pastor

Pastor Deb Monnin is glad to be welcoming, growing, and serving here with the people of Zion. She is a

life-long Lutheran, is a second career pastor, and has been preaching and leading worship since the fall of 2020. She is called to serve as a Support Pastor anchored with Trinity Lutheran Church in Moulton and is available to support the congregations and people in the surrounding communities. Deb enjoys listening to our stories and helping to hear God’s call for us and our community. She and her husband Bruce enjoy spending time with their family, doing stats for the Minster High School football team, and helping where they can. Bruce and Deb’s family includes two grown daughters: Alexandra (with her husband Bryce, their son Jack, and new baby expected the end of June) and Rebekah. They also share their house with their cats, Pierre and Henrí.

Sheila Stemen Smith

Director of Administration & Community Engagement

Sheila has served Zion since 2020. She oversees the day to day office and social media management as well as finding opportunities for Zion members to serve in the local community. This includes our annual Share.Feed.Relieve campaign, various drives and donations, and hands-on service projects. Have an idea? Contact Sheila! An Elida native, a few of Sheila’s life’s passions include playing bass guitar, watching football, bicycling, photographing nature and practicing (and leading) yoga. Sheila has a husband Carl and son Eli as well as a supportive extended family.

Samuel Payne

Visitation Pastor

Pastor Sam has served as our Visitation Pastor since 2017. He has earned a BA in Psychology, Sociology and Religion from Midland Lutheran College, a Masters of Divinity from Luther Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Winebrenner Theological Seminary. Pastor Sam also serves as the pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Cridersville and as Hospital Chaplain at St. Rita’s Medical Center and has completed special training in Clinical Pastoral Education through St. Rita’s Medical Center and OhioHealth in Columbus, Ohio. He’s a single father to three beautiful children: Jonathan, Judy, and Galawulu.

Mary Jane Eichelberger

Organist

Mary Jane has served as our organist and choir accompaniment since 2008. Mary Jane is involved with the Lima Symphony Chorus, the American Guild of Organists, and also offers private organ lesson for students at Ohio Northern University, as well as private piano instruction for The Music Factory in Lima.

Marilyn Basinger

Choir Director

For over 40 years, Marilyn has been
Zion’s Choir Director. A now-retired
music teacher, Marilyn works diligently with our adult choir and, in her downtime, explores her passion for registered Corgis.

Jennifer Parent

Worship Team Leader

Jennifer Parent started as our Contemporary Worship Leader in the summer of 2022. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Miami University and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Wright State University. She has decades of experience teaching choir and general music and currently teaches elementary music at Elida Elementary.
Jennifer is married to Mike and they have three children. When she isn’t leading worship, Jennifer enjoys singing in a steel drum band named Sojourn Steel with her husband.

Pastor Nancy Kin

Transition Team Leader

Pastor Nancy Kin is looking forward with enthusiasm and compassion to working with Zion and the transition team in preparation for calling a new pastor. This is a time of opportunity and creativity as well as anxiety and we can walk through it together. Pastor Nancy will be encouraging people to look toward the future while maintaining that which is foundational to our health. She will also help to identify what we will do differently to provide a loving community for all future generations.

After a long history in assisting educational institutions to recover from issues that had endangered the health and wellbeing of the organization, Pastor Nancy was ordained an Episcopal priest 11 years ago. She was a pastor of Church of Redeemer in Rensselaer, NY before being called to St. Matthew’s in Toledo, shortly before COVID. In preparation for retirement, she enrolled in Interim Ministry Network’s program for certification as an interim pastor.

As a widow, Pastor Nancy considers her church family as an integral part of her life. She is a caregiver who started her ministry as a lay person by becoming a Stephen Minister, then during seminary, she was a hospital chaplain caring for the sick and dying and their families.