Our Mission: Dungeon Master Pastors
As dungeon master pastors, we find joyful freedom in Christ through the gifts of community, spiritual practice, and play.
“I’m a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.” — Philippians 4:13
As baptized children of God, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. One of those things happens to be: playing table-top role-playing games like a boss.
“I’m a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” — Martin Luther
As baptized children of God, we’re also called to follow Jesus, to carry the good news of God’s Kingdom to the ends of the Earth, and to participate in God’s mission of love for the entire cosmos. One of the ways we do that happens to be: serving the Church as ordained ministers and called, congregational pastors.
“Being a dungeon master pastor is about how these things meet!” –Rory Philstrom
As dungeon master pastors, we are about exploring the intersection of where our human lordship meets our servanthood…where our identities and God-given abilities meet our activity in God’s proclaimed mission…where being a pastor meets being a dungeon master… and following Jesus meets tabletop fantasy role playing. We have a hunch that all these things have more to say to each other than you may think!
Quotes are from Martin Luther’s The Freedom of a Christian. Scripture is drawn from Philippians 4:13. We’re pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but the views and opinions on this page are our own and are not meant to be representative of the entirety of the ELCA. For more about the mission, theology, and community of the ELCA, check out resources at: http://www.elca.org/.
Our Party: Meet the Dungeon Master Pastors
🎲Rev. Rory Philstrom, the Dungeon Master Pastor
As the founder of Roll for Joy and the first Dungeon Master Pastor, Rev. Rory Philstrom (he/him) has been exploring the intersections between tabletop roleplaying games and following Jesus since 2014. Players in Rory’s games have included over 50 pastors and church staff, in addition to neighborhood youth, congregation members, RPG-curious adults, and gaming-convention goers. He leads retreats for clergy and church workers, organizes a local Dungeons & Dragons Youth Group, uses tabletop RPGs a tool for participatory education, and works within the gaming community to promote justice, generosity, and love. He seeks out new adventures of all kinds, whether they be exploring the outdoors, advocating on behalf of others at city hall and the capitol, discovering a new part of town, or raising two small children. Rory serves as an Associate Pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN.
Rory grew up in Omaha, NE, where he learned the values of hard work, fast friendship, a lived faith, and adventure. From there he moved on to Fort Worth, TX where he studied Religion and Spanish at Texas Christian University. While at TCU he got bit by the international travel bug and made his way to China, Tibet, New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, and Nicaragua. After college he spent a year in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, working as a Youth Ministry Coordinator at a congregation in urban Chicago. During that year he intentionally lived below the poverty line with a community of folks doing the same. From there he enrolled at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where his studies focused on interfaith relations. He is passionate about the work that God is doing in our world today and is constantly thinking about how we might become better disciples.
Find Rory on Mastodon (@TheDMPastor@Dice.Camp) and X(@TheDMPastor).
🎲 Rev. Ben Loven, the Steward of Lore
Pastor Ben Loven (he/him) serves the Roll for Joy team as the Steward of Lore. A self-professed lifelong nerd, Ben had long known of Dungeons and Dragons, but hadn’t ever had the opportunity to play. That all changed in 2015, when Rory asked him if he’d be interested in playing D&D with a bunch of other pastors in Western North Dakota. Ben jumped at the chance and hasn’t looked back! In 2018, Rory hosted the inaugural D&D retreat for pastors and ministry professionals (which would become the annual Holy Rollers Retreat, then called Pastors & Dragons). Ben attended as part of the leadership team, getting his first chance to play across the board as a Dungeon Master, and, once again, he jumped in with both feet. Since that time, Ben has been playing and DMing as much as he can with pastors, friends, family and members of the congregation where he serves: Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN. Since 2019, he has also helped lead the Holy Rollers retreats through a variety of leadership venues, including keeping track of the ever-unfolding game lore.
While he has lived in Minnesota for most of his life, ben was born in Iowa, but grew up in Maine. A Lutheran from birth, he attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, graduating with a religion major. From there he went to seminary at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, followed by his first pastoral care at First Lutheran Church in Williston, ND. Ben served there from 2009-2015, then moved to served to his current position at Our Savior’s in Rochester. Ben’s passion, whether around the gaming or Communion table, is all about sharing the good news of God’s never-failing love. This is a love that welcomes all, includes all, and values all, regardless of any factors. Ben also finds great joy in surprising people with the depth of God’s love and call to life in community.
🎲 Rev. Alex Smith, the Roll-Play Paladin
Pastor Alex Smith (they/them) serves the Roll for Joy team as the Roll-Play Paladin. As a lifelong reader and writer in the fantasy and science-fiction genre, Alex is all about telling imaginative stories and making time for creative life. They found TTRPGs as a community lifeline during the pandemic and built up a network of ongoing friendships through online roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons. As a player at the table, Alex loves exploring the possibilities of identity through character creation and improvised storytelling. As a Game Master, their priority is to make sure that all players feel welcomed and affirmed as they are; empowered as co-creators in telling a story; and inspired to make brave and heroic decisions. Alex’s first Holy Rollers retreat was in 2019, and Rory invited them to join the Roll for Joy team in 2023. They’ve been leading as a dungeon master pastor ever since.
Like Pastor Ben, Alex also went to Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. Alex studied English and Journalism with the CIVITAS honors program (2010-2014), with an emphasis area in Interfaith Dialogue. They also had the joy of serving as a Peace Scholar (2013) in Peace & Conflict Resolution Studies program at the University of Oslo, Norway. Alex received their pastoral education at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA (2014-2018), with a focus on contextual pastoral care. And they continue their love of academia today through the doctorate program at United Theological Seminary (2025-present), studying as a part-time student and full-time Associate Pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, SD. When Alex isn’t with the local chapter of South Dakota Holy Rollers, you can find them reading books or listening to actual-play podcasts at the local coffee shops, and always ready to yap about the newest season of Dimension 20.
You can find Alex on Bluesky (@velocipastor-alex.bsky.social), Instagram (@velocipastor.alex), and Discord (@velocipastor.alex).
🎲 Rev. Anthony Krones, The Battle Map Boss
Retired Pastor Anthony Krones(he/him) is a lifelong storyteller, tabletop gaming mentor, and faith-driven community builder who believes the gaming table can be a place of fellowship, healing, and joy. With more than 30 years of experience in tabletop roleplaying games (and over two decades behind the screen as a Dungeon Master and Game Master), Anthony has guided hundreds of players through adventures ranging from classic fantasy to cosmic horror, always with an emphasis on collaboration, creativity, and care for the people at the table.
Anthony is a “second-career” pastor, having served in the US Armed forces, as a government contractor, and later went to Bible college in 2013. He graduated in 2016 and was a pastor in the SDA church in Nebraska until his diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in 2018, when he retired from active ministry and transitioned into other ministries such as a mentor, writer, editor, and author. In 2025, Anthony joined the Holy Rollers Retreat DM cadre, bringing his heart for service and his love for teaching to help create welcoming spaces where players of all backgrounds can experience meaningful stories together. He’s run games for youth groups, community clubs, and still runs online tables, as well as volunteers his time teaching new DMs how to lead with confidence, empathy, and imagination. Anthony sees tabletop games as modern parables: shared stories that build friendships, strengthen problem-solving skills, and reflect deeper truths about courage, sacrifice, and grace. His faith shapes the way he runs games with patience, inclusivity, and rooted in the belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table. When he isn’t writing adventures or crafting worlds, Anthony can usually be found painting miniature game figures, designing terrain, or tinkering with custom game tables, turning tiny plastic heroes into works of art, one careful brushstroke at a time.
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