Our Staff

At Lyndale, our members are our ministers. Meet the people helping them.

Rev. Gail Irwin

Interim Pastor for Congregational Life

Rev. Gail Irwin was born and raised in the UCC in California and received her M.Div. at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. After serving two settled pastorates in Wisconsin, she has spent the past 12 years specializing in intentional interim ministry. She is an author and freelance writer and lives on a farm with her husband, Charles O’Harrow, who raises dairy heifers. Her daughter Evelyn lives in Minneapolis. She enjoys music, gardening and bike riding.

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel

Pastor for Justice Ministries and the Director of the Center for Sustainable Justice

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and currently serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Justice. She is a theologian, pastor and movement-builder who specializes in coalition and collaborative partnerships across movements for justice. Previously, she served as the MountainTop Movement Building Consultant at Auburn Seminary, as Interim Executive Director for PFund Foundation, as Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, as Interim National Coordinator for the United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT Concerns, as pastor of Spirit of the Lakes United Church of Christ and as Program Staff for the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence. You can follow her writing and wider work on her blog here. She is a graduate of Earlham College, Yale Divinity School and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.

Twitter

Chelsea Boyden

Youth Minister

Hello new friends! My name is Chelsea Boyden and I am excited to join SpringHouse as the new Youth Minister. I graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2021 with degrees in Political Science, Philosophy, and Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies and am currently pursuing my M.Div in Social Transformation at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and seeking ordination in the UCC. I have several years of experience in youth work and have been involved in several youth ministries and currently work full time as the Academic Success Coordinator for TRIO Upward Bound. In my free time, I enjoy exploring new foods and restaurants with my partner in the Twin Cities metro and spending time with my cat, Kiwi. I am eager to get to know all of you soon and help the SpringHouse youth navigate their faith and big questions.

Paul Kovacovic

Director of Music

Paul Kovacovic enjoys a career that spans both classical and popular styles. He has been the guest soloist with several orchestras as well as the accompanist for artists such as singer-songwriter Ann Reed and Las Vegas entertainer and television host Tony Sandler. Paul has won first prizes in the Thursday Musical, Schubert Club, and Indiana University Piano Concerto Competitions. Paul was an accompanist and coach for the Florida Grand Opera in Miami and has also worked with several theater companies in Minnesota, including the Minnesota Opera, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. Paul loves to teach piano and compose as well as perform.

Rev. Don Portwood

Pastor Emeritus

The Rev. Don Portwood served as Pastor of Lyndale Church starting December 1, 1980 through May, 2015. He doesn’t believe there are many churches he could’ve pastored that long. About his time with us, Don writes, “Lyndale is a wonderful and crazy mix of people whom I was privileged to serve. And they kept me on my toes!” Don is also involved with a folk art form called InterPlay (interplay.org for more info), which stimulates my creativity and playfulness through improvisational movement, story telling, singing and rhythm. He considers InterPlay to be one of his spiritual practices, which is another area of interest. Don believes spiritual practices, ancient and new, can ground our faith so we have the spirit and energy to live the call to be a people and community “who embody and extend God’s welcome, healing, justice and love.”