STAFF
REV. DAVID T. DRYSDALE II, pastor
The Rev. David Drysdale was called as Pastor to Zion in March 2018. Born in Maine’s Aroostook County, he graduated the Maritime College of the State University of New York in 1986 with a B.S. in Meteorology & Oceanography and a U.S. Coast Guard license for Third Mate Oceans/Unlimited Tonnage. After 22 years in metropolitan New York working in industries ranging from maritime shipping and admiralty law to computer retail sales, information technology, and financial industry research, he entered Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Columbia, SC, in 2008. After graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in May 2012, he began serving the Church in the North Carolina Synod in August of that year. Pastor David and his wife, the Rev. Judy Lewis Drysdale, are residents of Hickory. When not enjoying time with family and friends, David might be found in the backyard brewing an ale, waist-deep in a mountain stream fly-fishing for trout, or visiting son Rev. Joshua Copeland and his wife Emily in Christiansburg, VA.
JOEL P. ROGERS, director of music
Joel P. Rogers is originally from Winston-Salem. He has served as Organist/Choirmaster for several churches around the country, including St. John's Episcopal Parish in Naples, Florida, Faith Lutheran Church in Chico, California and St. John's the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Chico, California. For many years he was a professional actor, designer and director at several professional theatres around the country. He finished his BFA in Musical Theatre Performance at Northern Kentucky University and his MFA in Direction and Theory and Criticism at The University of Memphis. He taught at Bethel College in McKenzie, TN for two years immediately following graduate school in Memphis, and then moved to California to be the Director of Musical Theatre at California State University, Chico. He became the Chair of the Department of Theatre in Chico for several years before he moved to Santa Cruz California to be the Dean of Visual and Performing Arts at Cabrillo College. In 2014, Joel moved back to the mountains of Western North Carolina to be the Director of Musical Theatre at Mars Hill University. He retired from university teaching in 2018. After returning to WNC in 2018, he served at Grace Episcopal Church in Asheville and Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church.
KORNELIUS KOEPPEL, director of children and youth ministry
Kornelius Koeppel was born in Germany and grew up in Bavaria as the oldest son of a Lutheran pastor. Although he originally wanted to study biology and religious education, God led him to medical school. He worked in Poison Control for nearly ten years before moving to the United States in 2021 to join his wife. Since then, he has earned a Master of Ministry degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) and become an approved Deacon Candidate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He also completed one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Mount Sinai Hospital, a Level I trauma center. Kornelius brings a wealth of experience in youth ministry, having worked alongside his father in congregations and at the YMCA. He later volunteered in campus ministries, where he organized and participated in ecumenical and interfaith events. As a lifelong Lutheran, he values bringing people of different faith traditions together. He is also a talented cook who prepared meals for students to enjoy after worship services. On Monday evenings, he shared his love of ballroom and salsa dancing by teaching dance classes. For more than ten years, he led Standard and Latin ballroom dance classes in the Catholic Campus Ministry rooms, where he met his wife, Miriam. Kornelius and Miriam live in the heart of Alexander County, where Miriam serves as pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church in Taylorsville. They share the parsonage with their white Persian cat, Chicco, their dwarf hamsters, and their newly adopted foster puppy, Ricky. Outside of ministry, Kornelius enjoys dancing, cooking, crafting, and singing. He also loves tent camping and riding roller coasters.
SANDRA PARKER, church administrator
A native of Vale, North Carolina, Sandra Parker has served as Zion’s church administrator for 30+ years. She is a graduate of Fred T. Foard High School in Newton, NC and, prior to coming to Zion, served as a Deputy Register of Deeds for Catawba County for 16 years. Sandra has four adult children and three grandchildren. She enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with her family and fur baby, Artie.