We’re passionate about helping Bethel students understand the love of God and where this great love is calling them.

Meet our team to learn more about what we do and why we're here at Bethel. We've also put together a spiritual formation guide (pdf) to help you learn more about our philosophy of helping students grow in faith.

Laurel Bunker 

Dean of Campus Ministries/Campus Pastor
l-bunker@bethel.edu

Pastor Laurel feels blessed to serve the Bethel community in two primary ways. As the dean of campus ministries, Laurel is a member of the President's Executive Leadership Team, providing strategic guidance on issues related to the spiritual formation and personal development of the student body. As campus pastor, Laurel serves as the primary preacher in Chapel and leads a vibrant and gifted team that is dedicated to providing transformational ministry opportunities for the Bethel community.

When not preaching at Bethel, Laurel travels throughout the country teaching and training at colleges, churches, and parachurch organizations in the areas of leadership, spiritual development, biblical issues in 21st century Christianity, and more.

Leslie O'Brien 

Administrative Assistant to Campus Pastor
l-obrien@bethel.edu

Leslie is the daily face of our office. She welcomes visitors with warmth and personality. She also pulls together details and tasks to keep many of our ministries running smoothly.

Matthew Runion 

Associate Campus Pastor
matthew-runion@bethel.edu

Matt provides opportunities for students to engage in cross-cultural ministries. This includes our mission teams that take trips throughout the year as well as biblical justice groups such as World Challenge and Acting on AIDS. Matt also leads the Bethel delegation to the Urbana student missions conference every three years.

Tanden Brekke

Assistant Campus Pastor/Outreach Ministries
t-brekke@bethel.edu

Tanden works with the Twin Cities Outreach (TCO) and Sankofa programs. These ministries give students the opportunity to experience life outside of the Bethel community while learning from the experiences of others.

Donna Johnson

Assistant Campus Pastor/Prayer Ministries
de-johnson@bethel.edu

Donna leads the prayer ministries at Bethel. She finds a variety of ways to engage students and employees in the power of prayer by forming prayer teams, planning community events, and being available for counseling and prayer.

Curtis Hunt

Worship Pastor
c-hunt@bethel.edu

Curtis leads the United Worship Ministry at Bethel, which serves all Chapel and Vespers services. As worship pastor, he serves as the chief architect for spiritual transformation through music ministry in communal worship experiences while developing the next generation of worship pastors.  

Chris LaRue

Chapel Producer
c-larue@bethel.edu

Chris inspires and designs the creative pieces of each Chapel service. She incorporates elements of video, sound, drama, and design to draw our community together to worship our God. Chris also leads the Chapel Worship Arts team, which provides opportunities for students to share their gifts within our worship services and preparation for those pursuing artistic ministry careers in the future.

Dannell Shu 

Education Coordinator for United Worship Teams and the Dance Director for Sacred Dance
das43553@bethel.edu

Dannell brings her expertise as a worship leader, choreographer, communicator, and educator. She is committed to helping Christians to more fully and honestly embody their worship. For more than 15 years, Dannell's ministry has worked to raise the level of excellence of dance in the church.

Sandra Robinson Hodges

Chapel Choir Director
slh23725@bethel.edu

Sandy leads and directs the Chapel Choir. The Chapel Choir embodies a kingdom vision of worship, leading in genres like Black-Gospel and other World forms of worship music. Sandy has been singing since age 4, and comes to Bethel with a rich legacy of music ministry and leadership locally and nationally.