Our Pastor, Council, Staff and Volunteers - Martin Luther Evangelical Church Toronto

Last updated on September 26th, 2024

Worship Service with Pastor Klappert — 2021 Pastor Annika Klappert

Annika Klappert, our Pastor, Aug 15, 2021-

(Pastor Annika Klappert is now on maternity leave as of August 1, 2024 and we look forward to her return one year from now in August 2025.)

Annika Klappert is the pastor of Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church. Born in Heidelberg (Germany), she studied in Muenster and Berlin before receiving pastoral training in Hamm/ Westphalia. She then joined us after 2.5 years as a student pastor in Muenster. Her ministry with us includes pastoral care, worship services for all ages and stages, finding relevant ways to talk about faith – the Bible and our Christian tradition – in everyday conversations, visits, and events. Her calling stems from a deep conviction that our purpose in life is to be connected to God and to each other. She also feels that at times, a song can be the better sermon and that training/mentoring volunteers in all fields of ministry lies at the heart of pastoral service today. When not busy at church, she stays in touch with family and friends around the globe, while enjoying the diverse culinary treats that Torontonian cuisine and her very own chef, husband Tim, have to offer.

“What I love about my work is meeting so many people in different life situations and stages. Sharing both joy and sorrow and encouraging each other in faith greatly enriches my own life. I also really enjoy working with others on new ideas and projects — to be the Church that God needs today– to serve the people in our congregation, neighbourhood and beyond.” – Pastor Annika Klappert, August 15, 2021

Our previous Pastors were Karl Wulf, 1957 – 1959, (2 Jahre), Otto Winter, 1959 -1964, (5 Jahre), Eberhard W. Schwantes, 1964-1999, (35 Jahre), Stefan Wolf, 2000 – 2007, (7 Jahre), Alexander Mielke, 2007 – 2013, (6 Jahre), and Dr. Christian Ceconi, 2013 – 2020, (7 Jahre).

Mona Frantzke at German Thanksgiving 2021. My family and I are all longtime members of the Martin Luther Church.

Office Staff
Marlena Muller, Administrative and Pastoral Assistant. Our previous adminitrative assistants were Anita Ratz and Kathe Kleinau.

Church Council in 2024-2025

Mona Frantzke, President, president@martinluther.ca
Jocelyn Sommerfeld, Vice-President, vicepresident@martinluther.ca
Kai Herrmann, Treasurer, treasurer@martinluther.ca
Tanya Zielke, Secretary
plus 5 Councillors-at-large

… 3 more positions open to be filled on Church Council

Our previous presidents were Iris Schweiger, Tanya Zielke, Edmund Scholz, Dan Sommerfeld, Ernie Wienecke, Heinz Gutsch, Horst Zimmer, Hans-Joachim Arndt, Eugen Pahnke, Celestin Eugen Kakoschke… see our history pages.

Our lay preachers

Iris Schweiger with bicycle at Confirmation 2020. „My passion is inspiring people to live in and work with the love of Christ. I am always seeking to establish new ways to open the church doors to help neighbours, friends and congregation members find their programming needs. In 2017, I completed a lay preacher training program at the EKD in Germany and have been leading worship on occasional Sundays in English and German at MLC, First Lutheran and St. Georg’s Lutheran Church.“

Tanya Zielke, Katja Brittain, and Iris Schweiger.

The following vicars, interns and students have served our church over the years.

Vicars: Susanne Hofman (2004), Katharina Prozniak (2011), Moritz Menacher (2015), Catharina Klein (2017), Mirjam Steinebach, Silke Fahl (2020 -2021), Adam McComb (2020-2022), Jordan Smith (2020), Caroline Raddatz (2020).

Interns: Luisa Lenz (2016), Hilke Troff (2016), Alena Mathis (2017), Ann-Christin Hohaus (2018), Nils Timm (2018), Anne-Marie Prueser, Rahel Roemer (2019), Nefeli Xiggos (2022), Jessica Glasner (2023)

Students: Iris Mak (2022 Waterloo Lutheran University College, Waterloo, Ontario)