Pastor & Staff

Rev. Daryn Bahn was raised in Glendale Heights, IL, and Greenville, WI. His father is a retired pastor. His mother, after being a Lutheran educator, raised and cared for their family of five. Rev. Bahn was baptized into the family of God as an infant, along with his twin brother, Daryl, on April 30, 1967. After graduating High School, He began studying for the ministry, attending Concordia University, Wisconsin, and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He married his wife, Karen, on June 4, 1988. He spent a year as a vicar in Lakewood, CO, and after graduating from seminary he was ordained began his ministry in Sylvan Grove, KS, on July 5, 1992. Along the way, he and his wife found that their family grew! They have three children, Clarissa, Andrew, and Joel. Clarissa is a special education teacher in Blair. Andrew lives with Daryn and Karen and works at the library in Beatrice, and Joel and his wife, Maggie, live in Platteville, WI. Joel works for Hirschbach, and Maggie works for the Public Library. Daryn’s parents live in West Bend, WI.

After serving in Sylvan Grove, and a dual parish in Laona and Crandon, WI, and as associate and then senior pastor in Marshfield, WI for nearly 20 years, Rev. Bahn received a divine call to serve as the pastor of St. Paul’s in Beatrice. He was installed on October 11, 2020. It was a challenging year, due to Covid-19, and just getting back to worshipping “in person,” but God blessed our congregation, and Pastor Bahn even had a daily blog, where he shared his thoughts while reading through the Bible in a year as we gathered more and more people in worship. Karen, after finishing up her responsibilities as a Lutheran School principal, joined her husband and son in Beatrice, on June 13, 2021, and she was hired as the executive director of Prairie Hill Learning Center, in Roca.

Pastor Bahn enjoys hiking, camping, running, nature photography, music, cooking—and eating, electronics, technology—when it works, the Packers—win or lose, family time, and ministry. Some of the many highlights of the ministry include being a founding board member of a Lutheran High School, serving on a hospice board, serving on a public-school board, serving as a police chaplain, mission trips, servant events, a trip to Germany to celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation, going to very many youth gatherings, working with several wonderful worship bands through the years, being a part of the Leadership Learning Community, and being involved in community events. Most of all, he enjoys the little joys of everyday life as he serves God in every avenue God provides. His mission statement is: “to be an instrument of growth and change for the communities I’m part of so that I can witness the transformation of hearts and minds by sharing God’s Word in word and deed.” His theme verse is: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect…” (Romans 12:2ff, NASB95) His core values include humility, simplicity, loyalty, caring, and growing.

I was born and raised here in Beatrice, NE, where I attended St. Paul's from Preschool through 6th grade. I then attended Beatrice Junior High and High School and graduated in 1993.   I attended Concordia University in Seward majoring in Elementary Education with an edorsement in Middle Level Education Education and concentrations in Mathematics, English, and Scoial Science, before persueing working in camp ministry.  During the summers of 1994 to 1999 I work as the summer program coordinator for Camp Luther in Schyler, NE.  In 2000 I moved to Waterloo, IL to work full-time at Camp Wartburg as their Program Director.  After 10 years, I moved back to Beatrice.  In the fall of 2015 I became the Office Manager for St. Paul's and have enjoyed getting to know the memebers of the church and school.

I have two chihuahuas (Chico & Zoey) and enjoy counted cross stitching in my free time.

I was raised on a farm outside of Bremen, Kansas by my parents, Douglas and Karen Rengstorf. I attended Bremen Lutheran School, Marysville High School, and Concordia University in Seward. In 2001 I completed my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education with an Early Childhood Concentration and accepted my first call as the Preschool director at St. Paul’s in Haven, Kansas. I taught there for 4 years, then moved to Linn Lutheran School to teach 1st and 2nd grades. I was at Linn Lutheran for 8 years, three in 1st and 2nd grades and five as the Preschool director. In August of 2012 I completed my Master’s degree in Administration at Concordia University. I have been the principal and afternoon teacher at St. Paul’s since 2013.

I married my husband Mike in June of 2002, and we have three children, Andrew, Olivia and Isaiah. Andrew attends Kansas State University, Olivia attends Marysville High School, and Isaiah attends St. Paul’s. My husband works on his family farm operation near Herkimer, Kansas. In our free time we enjoy golfing, watching and coaching our children’s sports, and spending time with family.

I was born in 1987 in Olathe, KS and moved around a bunch as a kid. My dad became a pastor and we ended up in Beatrice, NE where I worked at Good Samaritan Society for 10 years as a housekeeper, laundry aid and CNA/Med Aid.  I met my husband in 2008 and we got married in 2009.  In 2016 we had our daughter Aubrie and I was blessed to be a stay at home mom until Aubrie started Kindergarten at St. Paul's in 2022.  Since then, I have been enjoying serving as the school secretary at St. Paul's! 

My name is Jonetta Hagemeier. I have been a teacher here at St. Paul's since 1993. For the first 29 years here I was the first grade teacher. At the beginning of the 2022 school year, I moved to the position of fifth grade teacher where I team teach various subjects with our fourth grade teacher. My first year of teaching, I taught  Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten at St. Paul Lutheran in Arlington, NE.

I am married to Dale Hagemeier. We have two adult children. I enjoy reading, doing puzzles of all kinds, kayaking, and most of all spending time with family.

Hi!  My name is Brad Long.  I am in my 5th year of my teaching ministry at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Beatrice.  Before this, I was a substitute teacher at Beatrice Public Schools and other school districts in Southeast Nebraska.
I have a wonderful wife (Joanna) who teaches 1st grade at St. Paul’s and I have 3 beautiful children, La’Kaya, Anthony, and Ivan and will be adopting two more (Logan and Jasmine) in the near future.  Joanna and I have been foster parents for approximately 9 years and have had other children come into our home for different periods of time.  We feel God’s calling in our lives to continue in that area.  I also have 2 dogs (Martin and Gus) and a cat (Ollie).

I was born in Omaha, Nebraska and attended Lutheran elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran all the way through 8th grade.  My family moved in 1991 to Blair where the rest of my family calls home today.  I am the 2nd of 4 children and I have 3 nephews and 2 nieces.  My mother is a retired computer operator and my father was a trim carpenter before being called home to the Lord in 2017.

I graduated from Wayne State College in 1999 (where I met Joanna) and Concordia University in Seward in 2003.  While I was at Seward, I received my Lutheran Teachers Diploma.  I attended Ft. Hays State University and received my Masters in Elementary Education in 2023.

In case you can’t tell I LOVE sports!!!  I was a basketball manager at Wayne State and I helped coach my son’s basketball team.  I have a couple of friends who are head coaches at some universities.  I like Huskers Football, Creighton Basketball, Chicago Cubs, Denver Nuggets, Seattle Seahawks, and Seattle Sounders FC.  I am a member of the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame and I keep score book for the Beatrice Boys High School Basketball team.

In my spare time I love to hang out with my family and friends, playing card or board games, playing with my animals, cooking, and doing word and number puzzles to keep my mind active.  My favorite foods are Pizza and Mexican.  I like any kind of carbonated drinks.  I like to visit my family in Blair and O’Neill.  I also love to serve my church in different areas.  Finally, my favorite Bible Verse is Ephesians 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your doing but it is the gift of God.  Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

I began teaching third grade at St. Paul's in 2023. To me, learning is a life long adventure, and I find my strength in God to tackle challenges.
Previously, I worked at Hanover Public School (Kansas) for eight-years in various roles, including an elementary teacher’s aide, junior high English teacher, Title One Teacher, and school librarian.  For one-year I substitute taught in various grades.  I taught a combination class of 5th and 6th graders at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Marysville for twelve-years, and a combination class of 7th and 8th graders at Grace Lutheran School in Kansas City for a half-year.

I left my home state of Montana to earn my teaching degree and Lutheran Teacher’s Diploma at Concordia University, Ann Arbor.  In 2020 I earned my Master of Art in Education at Baker University.  I am LETRS certified in Reading, Spelling, and Language Arts.

My husband, Kevin, and I live on the family homestead in the Bremen (Kansas) area with our two boys, Kolton and Kyle. Outside of teaching, I assist on the family farm and serve our family church in different capacities, including Sunday School teacher. In my free time, I enjoy reading, cooking, exercising, playing card games, and traveling to Montana (when possible).

I have been teaching second grade at St. Paul’s since 2013. Prior to joining the staff at St. Paul’s, I taught for seven years at Messiah in Longmont, Colorado and for three years at Zion in Tobias, Nebraska.

I love to spend time with my family and friends. In my free time, I enjoy watching Nebraska football / volleyball, cheering on the Denver Broncos, going to truck / tractor pulls, and cheering on my nieces / nephews at their various activities. I also enjoy adding figurines to my many collections, which include Precious Moments, Calico Kittens, and Willow Tree Angels. I also like to read, listen to music, and go for walks.

Before teaching 1st grade here at St. Paul’s, I taught 4th grade from 2014 – 2022.  Previously I taught Kindergarten, 1st grade and Pre-K at Amazing Grace in Seattle, Washington.

I was raised in Nebraska and Iowa and went to college for my teaching degree at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska.  I later went back and got my Lutheran Teacher’s Certificate from Concordia University.    

Outside of school, I enjoy playing games, music, scrapbooking, traveling, and spending time with friends, family, and my dogs.  I am married (to Mr. Long) and have five children, La'Kaya, Anthony, Ivan, Logan, and Jasmine.  We also have 2 dogs (Martin and Gus) and a cat (Oliver).

My favorite bible verse is Philipians 4:13 – I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

I have been teaching here at St. Paul’s since 2005. My first year teaching was at St. Paul Lutheran School in Haven, Kansas, teaching grades 2, 3, and 4. At St. Paul’s in Beatrice I taught fourth grade for nine years before moving to Kindergarten.

I live on the same farm north of Odell that I grew up on. My husband  Dietrich works for the Gage County Roads Department and we have 3 daughters, Sophia, Adrianna, and Sadie. I enjoy spending time with my family, which includes attending their various sporting and 4-H events.. When I have time my personal hobbies include walking my two boxer dogs, painting, reading, and digital scrapbooking.

My name is Melody Philippi-Aden and I am married to Rod Aden.  We have three children, Jackson, Carter, and Olivia.  I have been teaching at St. Paul Lutheran School since 1994.  I taught 3rd grade for 14 years before making the switch to Pre-Kindergarten and Pre-School. 

I have lived in Beatrice most of my life. I have four children, Austin, Gavyn, Adrieyn, and our newest addition, Zoey. Most of my free time is spent doing something with my children, whether it be wrestling, football, theater, or just hanging out and playing with the baby.

I graduated from Beatrice High School in 2002 and from Southeast Community College in 2017 with my Associates Degree in Human Services.

This spring I became the director of a child behavioral center in Lincoln. All of the children enrolled there had been previously expelled from other childcare centers due to their behaviors. The goal of my center was to assist the children to develop and practice the coping skills they needed so that they could eventually return to regular child care centers. I loved working with the children at my previous center, but unfortunately the drive to Lincoln and back was taking away from my time with my children.

Before that I worked at the Kensington, as a family support worker assisting families with open CPS cases and children on juvenile probation to learn skills and complete goals to close their cases. I also taught adult probation classes in Lincoln while doing family support. And I worked at Mosaic for 13 years.

My family and I are members of St. John's Lutheran Church here in Beatrice.

1 look forward to spending time with your children and meeting all of you! Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions, concerns, or ideas you may have to help us in caring for your children! Or just to say "hi"! 

I was born here in Beatrice, NE. I also attended St. Paul’s Lutheran School from preschool- 5th grade. I graduated from Southern Valley Jr./Sr. High in 2017. I then moved back to Beatrice and began working at St. Paul's Lutheran Childcare Center as a teachers aid. I graduated from SCC in Lincoln in 2021 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Early Childhood Education. I accepted the position of lead teacher in April of 2022.