Staff & Leadership
The staff and leadership (pastors, elders, & deacons) at St. Andrew are comprised of men and women who love, care, and pray for every single person in the church. If you have any questions for any of our staff, feel free to reach out and email them or call our church office to speak with them. You can contact the church office at office@saintandrew-ic.org or 319/338.7523.
You can also find minutes from session meetings
at the bottom of this page.
Pastors & Staff
REv. daniel debeer
interim senior Pastor
Daniel deBeer will be joining St. Andrew as Interim Senior Pastor starting February 26, 2018. For the past two years, he served as interim pastor for Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church in Oak Park, Illinois. Over the past four decades, he also has served as interim executive presbyter, chaplain in the South African army, family minister, senior pastor, and lecturer in Hebrew at Pretoria University. He has pastored churches in the U.S. and South Africa ranging between 50 and 2,0000 members. He and his wife Annette are in the process of moving to the Iowa City area.
Heather Woodin
Director of Children's & Family Ministries
Heather is Director of Children's and Family Ministry. She is the oldest of four children in a family that moved often. By high school graduation, she had spent significant amounts of time in Canada, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Iowa. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Journalism, then served 13 years as a news reporter for the Quad-City Times and the Cedar Rapids Gazette. She joined the staff at St. Andrew in 1999. She and her husband, Jim, have two delightful adult children, Corey and Amanda. Her joys in this life include spending time with kids, cooking delicious meals with Jim, laughing with friends, connecting with sisters in faith, and making lists to keep everyone organized. She has a ridiculous, excessive aversion to glitter.
Matthew Penning
Director of Music Ministries
Matthew has served as Director of Music Ministries at St. Andrew for nearly 16 years. Growing up in Austin, Minnesota, he was introduced to a life of music making by his oldest brother, and encouraged along the way to make music a lifelong pursuit. Matthew is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he earned a BA in Music while studying organ with William Kuhlman and choral directing with Weston Noble. He also holds a Master of Sacred Music degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he furthered his church music studies with John Ferguson (organ), Robert Scholz and Anton Armstrong (choral), and Paul Westermeyer (church music). Matthew is proud papa to Margaret and Helen and is married to Tamera, an instructor of piano to students in the Iowa City area and a homeschool mom.
Sarah Dyck
Office & Communications Administrator
Sarah was born in Cincinnati, Ohio but raised in Cedar Rapids. She went to Mt. Mercy (College) University where she received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Sociology. She also attended the University of Washington for graduate school where she received a master's degree in health administration. Sarah's previous employment includes working for a US Senator, managing the Telemedicine Program at the University of Washington, and coordinating disaster response through the Presbytery of East Iowa. Sarah's husband, Tim, is a Presbyterian minister in Cedar Rapids. They have two amazing sons (Geoffrey & Ian) and two American English Coonhounds (Wallace & Gromit). In her spare time, Sarah enjoys reading, listening to music, talking politics and theology, and spending time with friends.
paula grady
OFFICE ASSISTANT
Paula operates her own graphic design business, Encore Design Co., in Cedar Rapids. She also has worked part-time for ACT and Pearson in Iowa City over the course of several years. Paula is active at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids and sings in the choir there. She is very enthusiastic about the opportunity to serve St. Andrew during this time of transition into our new church facility.
