We welcome Margaret Folkemer-Leonard, who will be serving with LAMPa and St. Matthew Lutheran Church in York as part of her education at United Lutheran Seminary (ULS).

“I am excited to grow in my call to word and service ministry, learning how to better bridge the gap between church and world through community engagement and advocacy,” said Folkemer-Leonard.

By integrating her musical background and love of youth and family ministry into her upcoming work with LAMPa, which will continue to August 2021, she hopes to focus on the areas of educational advocacy and social justice.

“I am eager to be part of Margaret’s learning community, as we discern together how God is calling us into the world in this community and beyond,” said LAMPa Director Tracey DePasquale, who is also a member of St. Matthew. “Even though the distancing required by COVID is a challenge, we will have the opportunity to extend the ministries of service and accompaniment into advocacy as part of the congregation’s discipleship. We also look forward to co-creating resources for liturgy and faith formation that reflect and respect the diversity of human experience to share with worshiping communities throughout Pennsylvania to support them as they live into their baptismal call to strive for justice and peace.”

Raised to love and respect sacred music from all time periods, Folkemer-Leonard lifts up music as an integral part of faith formation, for herself and for others. An accomplished soprano vocalist of early music and oratorio, Margaret’s pursuits of the art form have taken her to various early music festivals as both a soloist and part of various ensembles. She has performed as a soloist for the Music, Gettysburg! concert series and with the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of the Schola Cantorum of Gettysburg, a choir that focuses on sacred music. Margaret is also an arranger and performer of American and Celtic traditional folk music, singing and playing penny whistle with the bands Cormorant’s Fancy and Dearest Home, and is an educator with Music and Motion, a local early elementary music and childhood development educational program. A graduate of the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, she continued her vocal studies with the renowned early music soprano, Julianne Baird.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is Margaret’s musically rich faith that led her to work in congregations as music director and to begin seminary. Upon completion of her candidacy requirements, she prays to become a called and ordained deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She brings her deep love of church music and firm belief in its powerful role in faith formation to her call to serve as Director of Music at St. Matthew Church, York, a congregation that holds a special place in her heart thanks to various family connections.

Margaret lives in West York with her husband, Matthew Folkemer-Leonard, and their two rescue dogs, Rosalind and Rooster.