Sarah Erickson Lume grew up near Ann Arbor, MI and had the privilege of spending summers at the international music camp, Interlochen Center for the Arts. This experience instilled in her the love of music making and she began to cultivate the artistic discipline of practicing, rehearsing, and performing within the context of a supportive community. Valuing a liberal arts education, she attended Sarah Lawrence College, outside of New York City while continuing to study oboe with Laura Ahlbeck (Metropolitan Opera) and Randall Wolfgang (New York City Ballet).

Sarah worked at NYC’s Carnegie Hall before entering graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University, where she was the student of her most influential teacher, Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida (Principal Oboist of the Pittsburgh Symphony). While pursuing a master’s degree in music performance, her momentum flourished both as a musician and as a reed maker. The Philadelphia style of reed making, and the resulting benefits to the oboist, is a specialty she now passes on to her own students. During this time, Sarah also attended Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and Orford Music Festival, in Quebec.

Her work in the Twin Cities includes chamber music and freelance performances as well as previous work with the Duluth Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Waldorf School. Having been an oboe instructor at Gustavus Adolphus College for more than twenty years, Sarah has found teaching to be one of the most fulfilling jobs of her career. She maintains a private home studio and teaches as an adjunct faculty member at other area colleges. Her interests include Alexander Technique, optimal performance psychology, practicing the piano, and recorder, as well as running. Sarah and her husband, a visual artist and professor, have two daughters.

Sarah Ruble is a Professor of Religion and specializes in the history of Christianity in the United States. She is the author of The Gospel of Freedom and Power: Protestant Missionaries in American Culture After World War II (University of North Carolina Press, 2012). She has also published articles on topics such as gender in U.S. religious history, the American missionary movement, and Lutheran contributions to American religion. Dr. Ruble is also a frequent presenter at adult forums and lifelong learning programs. She has developed two YouTube-based curricula for adult forums, one on the history of Christianity and race in the United States and the other on the development of Christian doctrine. Both are available on her website sarahruble.com.

At Gustavus, Dr. Ruble teaches a broad range of courses in the Religion Department. She also currently serves as the Faculty Director of Assessment and as Gustavus’s Accreditation Liaison Officer. In 2025 she was awarded the Faculty Service Award for her contributions to the Gustavus community.