Meet our Executive Director

The Board of Directors of the Mt. Carmel Child Care Center is excited to announce the immediate appointment of Brenda Wetzel as the third Executive Director of the Center. Brenda succeeds Jeanette Burmeister, who led the Center for twenty-seven of its now twenty-nine years.

Brenda has been at the center since 2004, working first as a Toddler and Pre-School Teacher. In 2008, she was promoted to Lead Teacher, and in 2017 was named Assistant Director. Upon Jeanette’s retirement, Brenda served the Center as the Interim Director.

Prior to coming to Mt. Carmel, Brenda worked over a period of seven years in a variety of both for profit and non-profit child care settings. She has a Liberal Arts Degree from North Hennepin Community College. When not at Mt. Carmel, she is at home in Fridley with her husband Shawn and their three boys Nicholas (age 15) Joshua (age 13) and Oliver (age 7). All 3 boys attend the Spring Lake Park school district and stay busy playing football as well as soccer.

In announcing the appointment, Jeremy Wendt, President of the Board, said, “Brenda brings all the energy, skills, and commitment to offering safe, affordable, quality child care to the Mt. Carmel Child Care Center that we were looking for in our next Executive Director. She is ready to build on the long,
rich history and outstanding reputation of the Center cultivated by Jeanette Burmeister for so many years, and to take the Center into new and exciting directions for the future.”

Pastor John Strommen said of Brenda, “I believe she is ready for the challenge and is already leading with eyes wide open. Brenda is experienced, qualified, talented, proactive, and humble enough to be a learner. Therefore, I endorse the recommendation of Brenda for the permanent director position.”

The Mt. Carmel Child Care Center is one of the largest and longest-running outreach ministries of the Mt. Carmel congregation, serving 30-35 families at a time, with spaces for 21 children in both toddler and pre-school care. The Child Care Center is one of the important ways that the church’s gifts are unleashed through porous boundaries to link the church to God’s work in the world.