My wife, Mary and I have lived in Buffalo for 17 years. We raised our children here (Emily, Elizabeth, and Mike). Early in our marriage we had lived in South Minneapolis, and had belonged to a Catholic church there. When we first moved to Buffalo, we joined St. Francis parish. But our eldest child shared a locker with Amanda Burgdorf, and the rest, as they say, was history. We met and became friends with Sherilyn and Andy, and haven’t looked back since.

Before becoming members, we were impressed with the feeling of warmth and welcome you can get just walking in the doors at Zion. I can’t say I know the Bible very well, but the people I know in this my church community are some of the best, most upstanding people I know, and are some of my very best friends. So, when I was invited to join the church council, I didn’t have to take too much time to decide (Mary was kind of pushing me too, I may add). The chance to give back to a community filled with people I genuinely love is a pleasure. I hope I can measure up.

Jim Bischoff was appointed to the Church Council to fill the vacancy left by Lora Nichols when she became a staff member.

Other Council Members

• Jim Bischoff My wife, Mary and I have lived in Buffalo for 17 years. We ...
• Diane Paulu Diane has never been far from a Lutheran church home. Her earliest memories ...
• Nick Sjolin I am married to my beautiful wife Missy for going on four years. ...
• Ian MacCallum Ian grew up in Apple Valley when it was all farm fields, and ...
• Nancy Dehmer My name is Nancy Dehmer, and I have been a member of Zion ...
• Jason Halvorson Jason is a life-long resident of Buffalo and member of Zion. He married ...
• Dale Schmidt Dale is a life-long member of Zion and has many childhood and adult ...
• Teresa Sorenson Teresa has been a part of the ELCA Lutheran community all her life. I grew ...
• Dirk Foster Dirk is serving on Zion’s congregational council for the rest of the calendar ...
• Dale Lawrence Dale was raised as an Episcopalian and his parents still attend his childhood ...
• Jodi Painschab Jodi grew up Catholic, attended a Catholic grade school for 8 years, and ...
• Dave Tauscher Dave serves on the Zion Church Council as a way of helping himself ...