Pr David Grainson was born and raised in Baltimore.  After graduating high school, Pr David attended Towson University where he got his degree in psychology with a minor in world literature. 

During his college years, Pr David felt a deep pull and call to a life of service as an ordained minster. Having been raised Roman Catholic, he entered the seminary to study to be a priest the September after he graduated college. 

During his time in the seminary, he was privileged to serve in very diverse forms of ministry. Some of these include a congregation in the South Bronx, the Caribbean, work with developmentally disabled adults, and a hospital chaplaincy in New York City.

After he was ordained in 1998, he served among the people of the Caribbean for three years. At that time, he discerned that, as much as he was suited for ministry, he felt a profound and persistent call to marriage and family.

After a great deal of discernment, he left the priesthood. He moved to New York and began working in the field of social service. He would eventually go on to get his master's degree and a New York State license in Social Work. He worked for 13 years with youth and their families struggling with mental health diagnoses.

He met his wife Sarajean in New York, and the two were married in 2001. They welcomed their first son Luke in 2006 and twins Matthew and David in 2009.

Still feeling the call to ministry in the church, Pr David, pursued being rostered as a leader in the ELCA. In May of 2014, he began his first call at Holy Trinity Lutheran church on Long Island. In June of 2022, he began his call here at St Michael Lutheran.

Ryan holds a Master of Sacred Music degree in Choral Conducting from Notre Dame, and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance with a minor in Music Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He is an active conductor and private lesson instructor in the Philadelphia area. He loves to prepare a choir from the very early stages, caring for every detail in a score. He is also a proud member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the American Guild of Organists. 

 At Notre Dame, Ryan studied with Carmen-Helena Téllez, and took masterclasses with Joseph Flummerfelt, Jerry Blackstone, Donald Nally, Patrick Quigley, and Alastair Willis. His proudest achievements have been preparing a choir that sang onstage to a sold out crowd with Patti LuPone, and a choir that sang for Philip Glass. He also was a co-director of the Notre Dame Children's Choir. He received the Conducting Award at graduation from the Sacred Music Department at Notre Dame.

Emma is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she grew up attending St. John’s Episcopal Church. She enjoyed serving as an acolyte or a Lay Eucharistic Minister on Sunday Mornings and spending time with the younger kids in her parish. Some of her favorite summer memories include leading groups and music time at Vacation Bible School. Beginning in middle school Emma had the opportunity to meet kids from around her diocese at diocesan retreats. She also built relationships with Lutherans as their retreats were held at a Lutheran camp, where Emma attended summer camp. In high school, she took on leadership roles for their annual “Happening” Retreat, and attended both EYE’14 (Episcopal Youth Event) in Philadelphia and EYE’17 in Oklahoma where she got to meet Episcopal youth from all around the world. She also journeyed with her youth group to Peru on a pilgrimage in 2016. All of these experiences shaped her into the person she is today, and she is excited to work with the youth at St. Michael to create something that will be just as meaningful to them.

 Emma graduated from La Salle University, where she studied Spanish, Religion, and Education. There, she was involved in La Salle Christian Fellowship, a member of the La Salle Votes! team, and studied abroad in Seville, Spain during her sophomore year. 

 In her free time, Emma enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, reading, cooking, and baking. She also loves to travel.

Emma has been a part of the St. Michael community since January 2022.

 You can reach Emma by email at emmayouthsmlc@gmail.com 

Lindsay grew up in Colorado where she was actively involved in youth ministry at Trinity Lutheran Church in Boulder. Lindsay has experience serving in childcare, Sunday school, youth group, and mission trips. She served multiple summers at Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp in Colorado as an on-site counselor and traveling director, leading regional day camps and mission trips. She’s participated in multiple mission trips to Mexico serving at an orphanage in Tecate and building houses in Juarez, as well as teaching nutrition to elementary children living on the Navajo Nation. Lindsay attended Bucknell University for undergrad and Penn State for medical school. While living in Hershey, she served as a youth group adult sponsor for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and lead medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. She completed her Family Medicine residency at Wake Forest in North Carolina and a Sports Medicine fellowship at Penn State in Hershey. Lindsay and her husband Kyle moved to Kennett Square in 2018 and have two sons Henrik and Grant. She is excited to serve in the nursery at SMLC and continue to support youth ministry. 

Our Nursery is staffed following Labor Day to Memorial Day

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