Pastors

Pastor Philip Zarling

Pastor Philip Zarling has served at Mt. Olive since November of 1990. He graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1970 and served parishes in Nebraska for 20 years before moving to Overland Park, KS. 

Pastor Zarling and his wife, Edna, were married in Seward, Nebraska, in 1972. They have three children. Stacey, married to Darby Frey, lives and works in Chicago, IL.  Joel is an orthopedic surgeon medical resident at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.  Tiffany is married to Dustin Bohl and lives ands works in Kansas City, Missouri.  

Pastor Joel Schroeder

Pastor Joel Schroeder, age 62, served a congregation for six years in Nashville, Tennessee, after graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1976. From 1982 -1990 he was Mount Olive's pastor. Joel served Christ as a layman, as financial planner, seminar speaker, and business owner the next 13 years. He was called by Mt. Olive as part-time pastor in 2003, and as Associate Pastor in July 2004. Joel enjoys preaching, teaching, and counseling. He loves to read, play golf, watch the Jayhawks, Chiefs, and Royals, and keeps fit by walking and going to the fitness center.

Joel and Ruth were married in 1980. Ruth is a computer engineer for CenturyLink. She works in Gardner and out our her home. She loves to read and feed birds. Their children are Addie and Abel.

Addie is a diplomat in the US State Department, assigned to travel with the Secretary of State. Previously she was posted in Athens, Moscow, and Baghdad. She has learned Modern Greek, Russian, and Arabic. . She has a passion for travel and adventure. Abel works as collision repair technician at McCarthy Chevrolet on Metcalf in Overland Park. He plays drums, and serves as an usher. He is lives in Linwood, KS, and serves as a volunteer firefighter for Sherman Township.

Ruth, Joel, and Abel have visited Addie in Athens and Moscow. Ruth met Addie for a safari to Tanzania in 2011.