MINISTRY TEAM
Senior Pastor
Rev. Wayne Puls
Pastor Wayne Puls has served as Grace’s Senior Pastor since August 2024. He and his wife, Colleen, have five grown children and seven extremely cute grandchildren, all of whom live in New York City and Long Island. Before coming to Grace, Pastor Puls served as Senior Pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in Wake Forest NC (2012-2024), and as Assistant Pastor (1986-1988) and Senior Pastor (1988-2012) at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hicksville NY. After graduating from Concordia College in Ann Arbor MI (BA, 1980), and Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne IN (M.Div., 1984), Pastor Puls served as Religion Instructor at Martin Luther High School in Maspeth, Queens NY and as Youth Pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Flushing, Queens NY (1984-86). His vicarage year was spent at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bayside, Queens NY (1982-83). Pastor Puls grew up in Fraser MI, and was raised in the faith at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Clinton Township MI.
Assistant Pastor
Rev. Dr. Young-Shik Yun
Education
BA | Chongshin University | Seoul, South Korea
MDiv. | Presbyterian Theological Seminary | Seoul, South Korea
ThM. | Western Theological Seminary | Holland, MI
PhD. | Concordia Theological Seminary | Fort Wayne, IN
Missiology
Pastor Yun was born in South Korea and was not raised in the Christian faith. Korean culture views all religion superstition and is looked down upon and most people are agnostic at best. While studying for high school entrance exams, he visited a childhood friend, a high school student in Seoul, who was a faithful Presbyterian, who brought him into the church. He was a confessing Christian within two years. He was a pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, until moving with his family to the United States in 1992, to enter into graduate education and work on obtaining American citizenship as a family.
During doctoral studies, he became a Lutheran due to new depths of research on the Lord’s Supper. He was called from doctoral studies to become associate pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, VA. He currently also serves as Adjunct Professor of Missiology at the Neil T. Jones Seminary at Washington University of Virginia in Annandale, VA.
Pastor Yun is married to Jung Sook Han and they proudly have two sons, Ethan, a medical doctor in North Carolina, and Ryan, a recent graduate of James Madison University in Public Policy. Ethan and his wife, Amie, have two children. The Yun family resides locally in Woodbridge, VA.
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As Assistant Pastor, Pastor Yun is primarily involved in visitation ministry and evangelism efforts at Grace. He also often teaches adult Bible class.
Pastor Yun has been called to Grace Lutheran Church since 2019.
Deacon
Dan Buer
Education
B.A. | Mayville State University | Mayville, ND
Sociology; Coaching
MBA | Central Michigan University | Mount Pleasant, MI
Strategic Leadership
Deacon Dan was born in Rugby, North Dakota and was raised in the Lutheran Church. He has served in the US Army for 31 years.
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Deacon Buer has been married to Charity Faith since 1999 and has three children: Kayla (husband Mathew Klein), Ava, and Lincoln, as well as three grandchildren: Chase, Oliver, and Maxine. His hobbies include weight training, track and field, running, and teaching Sunday School.
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Deacon Buer's favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13: I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.
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Dan was Commissioned as a Deacon and Installed at Grace in 2022.
Deacon Intern
Walter Coppeans III
Deacon Intern
Tadesse Alemayehu
Education
MD | Gondar College of Medical Sciences | Gondar, Ethiopia
Certificate of Specialty | Addis Ababa University | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Orthopedic Surgery
MBA | Strayer University | Herndon, VA
My name is Tadesse Alemayehu. I am originally from Ethiopia and was born in Asmara. I grew up in an Orthodox Christian family. When I was thirteen years old, my sisters and I started to go to a Lutheran Church located in the neighborhood. Our country was under a communist regime, which resulted in the persecution of Christians. One of my sisters was detained in the local jail, which traumatized my parents who decided to ban us from going to church. I received Jesus Christ as my Savior in 1992. I became a member of the Lutheran church, joining the choir and prayer ministries. I graduated from college as a Medical Doctor and my residency in Orthopedics Surgery in 1997, had my scholarship at Chicago, 2003 and was blessed with MBA, 2011.
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I am married to a beautiful woman, Jerusalem, and blessed with one wonderful daughter, Kalkidan, who currently is an RN, BSN and goes to Word of Life Assembly of God in Springfield, Virginia. She serves as a worship and prayer leader.
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I became a member of Grace Lutheran Church five years ago. Upon the recommendation of Pastor Martin, I pursued Deacon training and was installed as Deacon Intern on November 6, 2022. My family and I are excited about the opportunity I received to the office of the Deacon at Grace Lutheran Church. I am looking forward to worshiping and serving our God within this exciting new ministry opportunity.
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Deacon Intern Tadesse’s favorite Bible verse is Rev 4: 1 “behold, a door standing open in heaven.”
Deacon Intern Tadesse has been serving at Grace Lutheran Church since 2022.