Junior Fellow
Sam Leanza Ortiz
Sam Leanza Ortiz is the Managing Editor for 1517 Publishing. She holds a BA in History and Political Thought from Concordia University, Irvine, and an MA in History from Baylor University. Sam currently lives in Waco, Texas, with her husband, Patrick.
Junior Fellow
Blake Flattley
Blake Flattley is an accomplished singer-songwriter and the head of 1517 Music. He holds a BA in Humanities and an MA in Theology from Concordia University, Irvine and has served as a Worship Director for churches in Southern California, Houston, New York City and the Phoenix area. Blake currently lives with his wife Tara and their three girls, Amelia, Olivia, and Willa in Southern California.
Junior Fellow
Grant Klembara
Grant oversees Digital Marketing and Fundraising at 1517. He also helps with the 1517 Academy. He holds a BA in Rhetoric and Economics from Wabash College and is currently pursuing an MA in Humanities from the University of Dallas. He attended the International Apologetics Academy in 2018. He lives and works in Dallas, Texas.
Junior Fellow
Kevin McClain
Kevin McClain grew up fishing and surfing in Southern California. He is an avid outdoors-man. He attended Seminary at Wittenburg Institute and was recently ordained as a minister in the NALC. He has a wife and four young children.
Junior Fellow
Gretchen Ronnevik
Gretchen loves writing about rich theology rooted in real life. She is a mom to six kids that range in age from preschooler to teenager. She works as a homeschool mom, writer, and speaker. She’s the author of Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted. She is also the co-host of the weekly podcast, "Freely Given." She enjoys knitting, reading many books at the same time, and embarrassing her teenagers in public. She and her husband, Knut, live in Minnesota on the family farm.
Junior Fellow
Katie Koplin
Katie is passionate about highlighting Christ for us in the Scriptures and encouraging others to live in the freedom we have on account of Christ in her writing, speaking, and coffee dates. She co-hosts the podcast Freely Given with Gretchen Ronnevick. Katie lives in Minnesota where fields of grain meet woods and water. She shares her home with her husband Dallas, 4 kids, and a sturdy lab named Moose. She graduated from Bethany Lutheran College in 2007 (B.A. Communications).
Contributor
Travis Scholl
Travis Scholl (MDiv, Yale Divinity School; PhD, University of Missouri) leads mission integration at Lutheran Senior Services. Previously, he served as managing editor of theological publications at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he continues as a guest instructor. He is the author of Walking the Labyrinth.
Contributor
Dan Weber
Dan Weber is a graduate of Concordia University, Irvine and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and serves as Lead Pastor at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Federal Way, Washington. Since 2008, Dan has worked with the LCMS Youth Gathering as both a speaker and planner. He's spoken at Maata Näkyvissä Festival in Turku, Finland and Konnekt in Aarhus, Denmark. He's been an adjunct professor of theology for Concordia University in Irvine, California since 2012.
Contributor
Scott Landrum
Scott Landrum is husband to Susan, dad to their five children, and Poppy to six grandchildren. Pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Sumter SC, he's also a retired Navy Reserve chaplain and the author of Martin Luther's Hidden God: Toward a Lutheran Apologetic for the Problem of Evil and Divine Hiddenness.
Guest Contributor
Adam Stetson
Contributor
Nicholas Kallis
Nicholas Kallis recently graduated from Cedarville University with an M.Div. He is married to Mary and together they have a daughter, Miriam Mae. Nicholas is currently serving as the pastor at Donnels Creek Church of the Brethren in Springfield, OH.
Contributor
Steve Kruschel
Steve Kruschel served as a vicar in Lapeer, Michigan. After graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2009, Steve was assigned to serve Grace Lutheran Church in Geneva, NE, and Trinity Lutheran Church in Grafton, NE. He served those congregations for 9 years He currently serves as a pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Two Rivers Wisconsin.
