STAFF
Pastor Mark Grorud
Interim Pastor
Pastor Mark Grorud (pronounced grow-rude), was born in northern Minnesota, and grew up in Montana and Idaho. He attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska where he met his wife, Caryl. Pastor Mark received his Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. His first call was to First Lutheran Church in Fremont, Nebraska. He swerved as an Associate there for 11 years, and then as Senior Pastor for an additional 15 years. In 2005, he was called to serve as Director for Relationship with Large Membership Congregations for the ELCA churchwide expression in Chicago. He returned to serve as Senior Pastor of Saint Michael Lutheran church in Omaha for six years, before being called by the Nebraska Synod to serve as the Executive Director for the Immanuel Vision Foundation, a charitable foundation connected with a Nebraska Synod Ministry. He retired from that position at the end of 2021.
Pastor Mark and Caryl moved to Wilton, Connecticut in 2018 to be close to their daughter’s family which includes four grandchildren. Pastor Mark loves reading, traveling, table tennis, grandchildren, and cheering for his favorite sports teams.
Brian Muller
Music Ministry Director
Brian Muller joined the staff of Prince of Peace in October 2021. Previously he had served as the Minister of Music and Organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Stamford for over 20 years with prior appointments in Norwalk and Rowayton.
He began his church career as a teenager, regularly leading music for worship in his home church of Faith Lutheran, New Port Richey, Florida. He went on to receive a B.S. in Music Education and church service at Concordia College, Bronxville, NY, where he studied organ under Dr. Richard Heschke and choral conducting under Ralph C. Schultz. Establishing a new home in Norwalk shortly after graduation, he returned to school and received his M.S. in Music Education at Western Connecticut State University, where he continued his choral training under Dr. Kevin Issacs.
A life-long Lutheran and active educator, conductor, and musician, he currently holds a post with New Canaan Country School as part of the Performing Arts Faculty as well as the Music Director of the Norwalk Community Chorale, reshaping and transforming its programs to meet the needs of the community, while striving for musical integrity and growth. He has held membership in the Connecticut Music Educator Association (CMEA), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and the American Guild of Organists (AGO). He also served on the Connecticut Commission for the Arts as a music-choral panelist and as a music consultant for the New England Saengerbund Society.
COUNCIL
Council members: Paul Adam, Linda Sutton Burns, Nancy Carlson (Assistant Vice President), Liz Davies (Assistant Vice President), Laura Duffy, Lorraine Lavery (President), Meegan Lepler, Meg McLoone (Secretary), Heather Pontonio, Priscilla Rivas (Treasurer), Donna Vitetta, and Monica Walsh
PASTOR EMERITUS
The Rev. Paul Lutz
Pastor – Retired July 1, 2022
Paul Lutz was called to Prince of Peace in May 2019. He and his wife, Janet, relocated from the greater Philadelphia, PA, area, where he served for seven years as Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansdale, the largest Lutheran congregation on the east coast. Previously he served the Director for Adult Education in the churchwide offices the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He has also served congregations in Princeton Junction, NJ, Old Saybrook, CT, and Lawrence, MA.
Pastor Lutz is an accomplished biblical storyteller, sought after teacher and preacher. He served on staff of the ELCA Senior Pastor Training program, the Book of Faith Initiative, and Living Faith: A Call to Discipleship. He has published several articles, bible studies and adult education resources.
Pastor Lutz graduated from Central Connecticut State College and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, PA, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. He also holds a Master of Religious Education from Boston College. He and his wife, Janet Bender Lutz, have adult two daughters, Erika and Morgan. The couple now resides in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Contact Janet or Paul Lutz at 609.578.7921 or plutznj08@gmail.com.