Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church
Servants
David Kummer, Pastor
Born and raised in Colorado, Pastor Dave eventually graduated from The University of Colorado, Boulder with the Bachelor of Arts degree in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology. He worked for one year on a grant from The National Cancer Institute at The National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine under Terry Potter, Ph.D., in Denver. He received the Master of Divinity (2000) and Master of Sacred Theology (2004) degrees from Concordia Seminary, St.Louis, eventually writing a thesis entitled, The Descent of Darwin: A Theological Understanding of Charles Darwin (Thesis Supervisor: Robert Rosin; Readers: Robert Kolb and Robert Weiss). He is currently working on the Doctor of Ministry Degree at Concordia Seminary.
He served Grace Lutheran Church and School in Visalia, CA (2000-2002) as an associate pastor; Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL as pastor (2005-2008); and now Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church and Preschool in Wilmington, DE as pastor (2008-present). He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry degree at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in the homiletics path. His Major Applied Project (Dissertation for the D.Min. degree) will work with the effect of visuals in preaching. Stay tuned.
Dr. Dalaie Choi, DMA
A native of Seoul, South Korea, Dalaie Choi received her B.M at Yonsei University, where she studied church music with a major in Choral Conducting under Haeok Kim. She also holds minors in organ and voice. Also at Yonsei University, she received her Master of Music Degree in Music History. At Yonsei she held a Teaching Assistant position in the music history department and a Research Assistant position for her graduate studies. While at Yonsei she participated in multiple music festivals such as The Oregon Bach Festival and Stuttgart Oregon Bach Festival–so she could expand her understanding of Bach as a choral conductings student.
After moving to The USA, she studied music history at Temple University as a master student in Philadelphia. In 2009, she transferred to The University of Iowa from Temple University, and started primarily studying organ performance.
At Iowa she received her second master degree in 2012. During her time at Iowa, she also received the Church Music Certificate for additional theological studies. Finally, on December 17, 2021 Dalaie received her Doctor of Musical Arts, also at The University of Iowa!
As an organist, Dalaie has performed at many venues throughout The United States and Europe, most notably, Santa Maria del Coro, Cavaillé-Coll organ in Spain; Michealiskirche, Sauer Organ Leipzig, Germany. She participated in master classes with several accomplished organists, including Paul Jacobs, Delbert Disselhorst, James Higdon.