Melissa Runningen started at Peace Church as the Parish secretary in July of 2023. She was born and raised in the Evansville/Ashby area and has a background in clerical and accounting.
Melissa has a son, Michael Glasby. Michael, his wife, Kayla and their 3 daughters (Payton, Adley and Maci) live in Morris MN. Melissa enjoys crafting, working with computers and spending time with family.

Brenda Risbrudt serves as the Organist and Music Director at Peace Lutheran Church.

Brenda was born and raised right here in Ashby, one mile west of town. After graduating from Ashby School in 1971, she attended and graduated from Alexandria Tech College in Alexandria, MN. She then went off to the big city and worked for Northwest Airlines in Minneapolis.

She married Wayne in 1973 and they have 3 boys, Isaac, Ryan and Andrew, who have provided them now with grandchildren.

Brenda took just 2 years of piano lessons from Delloris Nelson and started playing for the church services when she was still in high school. “My sister always said that when we were supposed to be cleaning the house I’d start dusting at the piano and never get any further.” Except for the five years she lived and worked in the Cities, Brenda has been at the keyboard on Sunday mornings.

Brenda has surpassed 23+ years of driving school bus for the Ashby School District. “I think I’m the first full-time female driver in Ashby.” She loves spending time gardening and yard work or just getting dirty, 4-wheeling, golfing (“when anybody will take me”) and being with her family.

Tim Cunningham serves as the Treasurer for Peace Lutheran Church and as Parish Treasurer.

Tim was born and raised in Sturgeon Lake, MN. After high school he attended North Dakota School of Science graduating from their computer electronics program. ND School of Science brought him to west-central Minnesota where he met and married his lovely wife, Sandy Nelson. He furthered his education by attending Brown Institute in Minneapolis for computer science.

In February of 2000, Tim and Sandy adopted two boys from Russia, Zach and Josh. Zach lives at home with his parents in Dalton, while Josh went to live with his heavenly father in April of 2011. Tim is currently employed as the “IT Guy" at Northern Contours, a manufacturer of cabinet doors and drawer fronts which are sold internationally. In his spare time Tim enjoys fishing, hunting, reading and spending time at the lake with family.