January - May 2009 Archive
Rachel Connelly ('90)
Jerry Troutman ('60)
Bill King ('80)
Rusty Sullivan ('00) & Stephen Mims ('00)
Doug and Beth Kearney ('81)
Dave Amidon ('85)
Stephen Biegner ('97)
Paul Wollner ('05)
Mark Cernigilia ('82)
Amy Danchick ('08)
Connelly Receives Alumni Award
The Alumni Association of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary awarded the John Benjamin Bedenbaugh Award for Distinguished Pastoral Leadership the Rev. Rachel L. Connelly on May 14, 2009 at its annual Alumni Day Luncheon.
Connelly, a 1990 graduate of the seminary, is pastor at Water of Life Lutheran Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, a mission congregation that she helped develop. 
In addition to her contributions at Water of Life, she has served on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Church Council since 2007, and is currently the Dean of the South Coastal Conference of the North Carolina Synod of the ELCA.
The Bedenbaugh Award is given annually to a distinguished graduate of the seminary who has encouraged bold congregational witness and has offered exemplary service to the church at large. The award bears the name of the late Rev. Dr. John Benjamin Bedenbaugh, who was a professor and alumnus of the seminary.
In recognition of this award, Connelly was presented with the Bedenbaugh honorary stole, given each to year the award's recipient, and a certificate commemorating the award. In attendance were Bedenbaugh's surviving siblings, Connelly's family, as well as two hundred seminary alumni spanning over 60 years of service as public ministers.
April 26, 2009
Lenoir-Rhyne honors Troutman ('60)
By Winston Skinner, The Times-Herald (Newnan, GA)
Dr. Gerald S. Troutman, local pastor and civic leader, has been recognized by his alma mater, Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C.
Troutman, 75, was presented with the Clarence L. Pugh Distinguished Alumnus Award in ceremonies on the Lenoir-Rhyne campus on April 4. Margaret Allen, assistant director of marketing and communications at Lenoir-Rhye, said the award is presented annually to the alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated great prominence in his or her career field while adhering to the principles of education and Christian character upon which Lenoir-Rhyne was founded.
The award is the highest given by the LRU Alumni Association. "I was deeply honored," Troutman said.
Lenoir-Rhyne dates to 1891 and is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and.
Troutman is a 1956 graduate of the North Carolina School. He received his master of divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C. and a doctor of ministry degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Troutman earned the clinical pastoral education certification from Georgia Baptist Medical Center of Atlanta.
Troutman grew up "in the mountains" in Boone, N.C., he said. "My Dad was a Lutheran pastor." Appalachian State University is located in Boone, and Troutman attended a laboratory school there.
He considered Appalachian State when he was looking at colleges, but chose Lenoir-Rhyne, in part because of its denominational affiliation.
Another factor was the football scholarship Lenoir-Rhyne offered him. Lenoir-Rhyne and Appalachian State were big football rivals. "We beat Appalachian two out of the four years," Troutman recalled with a smile.
Troutman had worked at a local funeral home and considered becoming a funeral director. He also thought about becoming a football coach but was told by friends he was "not mean enough" to spend his life coaching football.
The largest class ever from Lenoir-Rhyne was at that time moving on to Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. Troutman took an internship at a church Knoxville, Tenn. During that time, he became convinced that a career as a pastor was the right direction for him.
"It changed my life," Troutman said of his internship year.
While in Knoxville, he also met Coweta County native Marihope Shirey. "She was there at the University of Tennessee, working on her master's," Troutman said. They married and have three children and six grandchildren.
Troutman has received a variety of honors including the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary's Dr. J. Luther Mauney Leadership Award. He was listed in Who's Who in Atlanta and Who's Who in America. He was the baccalaureate speaker at Lenoir-Rhyne 2008.
Troutman has served as pastor of congregations in Greeneville, Tenn., and in Atlanta. In addition, he has served as secretary, president and bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the Lutheran Church in America.
Troutman was the first bishop of the Southeastern Synod. The current bishop, Julian Gordy, grew up in Coweta County.
Troutman has served on the staff of the Division for Ministry and Synodical Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, as director of development for Lutheran Ministries of Georgia and as the interim/transition pastor of seven congregations including Resurrection Lutheran Church in Coweta County and Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta. Currently, he is serving as interim pastor of St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Forest Park.
For several years, Troutman has been the resource associate for the ELCA's Fund for Leaders in Mission, a scholarship program for seminary students. "I've been raising money for seminary students," he said.
"Too many of our students come out of seminary with more debt than they can handle," Troutman said, adding that there also is a need for more Lutheran pastors.
Gerald and Marihope Troutman moved to Newnan in 1996, after having lived in Atlanta for more than 35 years. Both have been active in many aspects of community life.
Read the full story online at http://www.times-herald.com/Local/Lenoir-Rhyne-honors-Troutman-726011
Sharing faith's joys, challenges By Tonia Moxley, The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA BLACKSBURG -- For Christians, today is the day to celebrate the Resurrection. But one Virginia Tech campus minister will preach, not just about the joy of a risen Christ, but about the challenge that concept presents in Mark 16. In that telling of the Gospel, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome go to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his crucified body. There, the Scripture says, they find not a corpse but a mysterious man dressed in white, who tells them Christ has risen from the dead. But despite the apparent miracle foretold by Jesus before his death, there is no joy in the women's reaction. "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid," according to the New International Version translation. Today at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, the Rev. Bill King ('80) will preach, not just on the joy of resurrection that can follow suffering, but on the frightening, lonely place between the two where faith is tested. It's a sermon written in the days between the March 2 death of King's mother and the second anniversary of the April 16, 2007, shootings at Virginia Tech. From the front door of his office, King can see the campus where two years ago he joined fellow ministers in caring for the survivors, families of the dead and bewildered bystanders. One of his pastoral duties then was to speak at the April 17 convocation. While much of the world focused on Nikki Giovanni's now famous "We are Virginia Tech" poem, King's speech got recognition of another kind. In the days and weeks after his two-minute remarks, some conservative Christians criticized King, calling him "cowardly" and "a disappointment" because, while Allah and Buddha were mentioned, King did not invoke the name of Jesus. Rather, he paraphrased the Gospel message: "At a time such as this the darkness of evil seems powerful indeed. ... Yet we come to this place to testify that the light of love cannot finally be defeated. Amid all our pain the light shines in the darkness and darkness has not overcome it." Still, writers of angry e-mails to him called for his dismissal and questioned whether or not he truly was a Christian -- charges he later addressed in an essay published in the Journal of Lutheran Ethics. "I viewed the task less as proclamation to the faithful and more as pastoral care for the whole university community," he wrote. Still, King said he does believe that religious and liturgical language, if used thoughtfully, can heal. After nearly 25 years at Tech, King, 56, is an elder statesman among the community's campus ministers. In his career, King said he's preached more than a dozen Easter sermons. While King said he won't explicitly mention either his mother's passing or the shootings in today's sermon, there's no doubt that two years of crisis will inform his words. "One of the consequences of 4/16 was to suddenly become aware of pain and suffering in our little town," King said. On Easter, finding faith is less about deciding whether or not Jesus rose from the dead, King argues, and more about asking the question, "Is Jesus raised in us?" Mark's Gospel "invites people to be where the women are," King said. "Maybe the reason they are terrified in silence is ... if Christ is alive, I have to take this seriously."
A Blacksburg pastor takes a different approach in his Easter Sunday sermon.
Read Article at http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/200831
Palm Sunday Photo Feature
Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Lexington, South Carolina, where David "Rusty" Sullivan ('00) and Stephen Mims ('00) serve as pastors were the focus of a Palm Sunday Photo Feature in Columbia's newspaper, The State. Click here to view the pictures.
Couple Tour Holy Land, led by Seminary ProfessorBy Susan Shinn , Salisbury Post, Salisbury, NC sshinn@salisburypost.com
In planning her sabbatical, the Rev. Beth Kearney ('81) wanted to do "one big thing." That one big thing turned out to be a 19-day study course in the Holy Land. Beth, a member of the bishop's staff at the N.C. Lutheran Synod Headquarters, was joined by her husband, the Rev. Doug Kearney ('81), who's interim pastor at St. James Lutheran Church, Concord. The trip was the couple's first foray to the Holy Land. Not only did they see many historic sites, they also learned about the current political climate in this volatile region of the world. 
"We got to talk with a lot of people we wouldn't talk with otherwise," Beth says. "It was pretty in-depth."
The trip was led by Dr. Monte Luker, a professor of Hebrew scriptures at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C. It included a pretty extensive reading list, which pleased Doug, although both of them are voracious readers. One of the many people they met on the trip was the archbishop of the Melkite church in Israel, the country's largest Christian denomination.
Doug wrote in his blog about the conversation the group had with Elias Chacour. "Toward the end of our time, he said something really helpful to we who are in the midst of our Holy Land site-hopping," Doug wrote. "You have visited the Holy Sepulchre? Good. I'm glad. You know, when you go inside — don't bump your head — there is an embalming slab," Chacour said. "On that marble is something you should remember. It says, in Latin, 'He is not here; he is risen.' You will not find Jesus here. You will find Jesus in your work for justice and reconciliation at home. So, yes, go to the sites, do your pilgrimage. Then go away. Go home. What God desires of you will happen there."
For his part, Doug has never felt a strong desire to visit the Holy Land. But, he says, "I'd be jealous if she went without me."
Beth and Doug, both 56, wondered what differences it would make for them to visit places they'd read about and preached about for years. "As it turned out," Doug says, "it was a marvelous trip and being there did make a difference."
The couple quickly learned that there was a difference between "traditional" sites and "authentic" sites. The authentic sites are places that Jesus most definitely visited. These include Peter's house in Capernaum and a synagogue where Jesus preached. "We came home and that was the gospel lesson for the next week," Doug says. "It was neat to be able to picture that in a different way."
A traditional site, on the other hand, might be a rock upon which Jesus was said to bless the loaves and fishes. Doug says, "It was neat to see sites that weren't authentic, but where Christian pilgrimages had been made for 1,700 years. Being in places where Christians had made a point to come was inspiring to me."
Doug notes, "The scripture is first and foremost the early writers' faith in Christ. It contains history and details about geography. In the end, you can't lose sight of the fact of their faith in Jesus Christ, rather than being just a historical book."
The couple visited Golgotha, the site of Jesus' crucifixion. Interestingly, the site of the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus are now contained in a massive church, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Many different denominations have chapels on the site — all built up in a haphazard way, Beth notes. Over the years, it's been quite contentious and territorial — so much so that one family, a Muslim family, no less, keeps the keys to the church. This family has passed down this tradition for hundreds of years.
Outside the church, Doug says, they heard the Muslim call to prayer from the minarets. "Inside, the Ethiopian monks were having evening prayer and the Franciscans were having evening prayer. All of that was going on at the same time." "That was my favorite place," Beth says, "because it was clearly an authentic site. It had centuries and centuries and centuries of worship on top of it. There was an air of mystery over the whole thing. "It was an amazing feeling."
Near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Doug and Beth attended services at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. Coincidentally, Bishop Mark Hanson of the ELCA was preaching that Sunday. He was a part of the conference of bishops visiting the Holy Land. Bishop Leonard Bolick ('72) of the North Carolina Synod and his wife, Rita, were along on that trip.
The close proximity of many sites along the trip was unexpected, Beth says. The "Gospel triangle," for example, where Jesus did most of his ministry, was encompassed in just a few miles. During a boat trip onto the Sea of Galilee, Doug says, "in one field of vision, you could see where 75 percent of Jesus' ministry happened."
The group traveled to a kibbutz on the Dead Sea, and stayed at a guest house which had a spa. "It was more like a Y with mud," Doug says. The couple covered themselves with the Dead Sea mud, although Beth waited until Doug was covered and his hands were sticky, so there's no photographic evidence she actually did it.
And yes, you can float quite easily in the Dead Sea because of its high salt content. "You can float sitting up and reading a book if you wanted to," Doug says.
The couple had been told to prepare for a lot of walking and hiking and steps — and there was much of that. Doug appreciated it. "It takes a while to get the flavor of a place and soak it in," he says, and walking enhanced that. Their group hiked in several national parks, climbing in En Avedat National Park. Beth surprised herself by completing a canyon trail which included about 700 stone steps and two ladders.
Beth says she was also surprised at the diversity of the land in such a small area. Some areas of Galilee were green, like parts of the North Carolina mountains. There were desert areas, too, and extreme changes in altitude. The Golan Heights, for example, are at 9,000 feet, while the Dead Sea is actually below sea level.
The group had to travel farther east than originally planned, because of the fighting which broke out in Gaza. "I have a greater appreciation for the complexity of the area," Beth says. "There are no easy answers," Doug says. "It's just really complicated," Beth says.
The group visited Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, which is run by the Lutheran World Federation. It's the only place where Palestinians can receive radiation treatment.
Doug and Beth came away with a sense of the history of the region. "Everything there just had these incredible layers of politics and religion," Beth says.
The couple agrees that they feel a stronger responsibility to be advocates for peacemaking. "At the same time, there aren't simple answers," Doug says. The complications, he says, just add to the richness of the region. "It really is where East meets West."
To read more about the Kearneys' trip, visit Doug's blog at israelnotes.wordpress.com.
Techies on a mission: Internet hookup lets Raleigh worshippers see and talk with far-flung workers who spread the faith abroad
By Yonat Shimron, Staff Writer, The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC
In many Christian churches, there is no greater honor than meeting a missionary who is working in the jungles, slums and sore spots of the world to spread the faith on behalf of those more attached to the comforts of home.
But for most Christians, such interactions are rare. Mostly the good works of these missionaries surface in the pages of the church bulletin or in a denominational magazine.
At Raleigh's St. Philip Lutheran, such interactions have become regular Sunday fare these past six weeks, thanks to modern technology.
Using software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet, and a video camera installed into the computer, a Sunday school class at St. Philip was able to hear, see and talk to missionaries stationed as close as Costa Rica and as far away as Zambia.
It all began when church member Heidi Pongracz of Raleigh approached her pastor, the Rev. Dave Amidon ('85)
, to ask how she could make the church more aware of the work her brother was doing as a Lutheran missionary to Zambia.
Amidon, the co-pastor of St. Philip, told her he regularly communicates with his daughter living in Paris through Skype, the Internet telephone service. He wondered if the church might set up a call with Pongracz's brother in which church members could ask him direct questions about his work in the southern African nation.
Before long, a short Sunday school curriculum was developed hooking up St. Philip members with five countries where Lutherans work on behalf of the 5 million-member denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The experience helped church members learn about the socioeconomic conditions in other countries and the role faith plays in such settings.
It also made members proud of their own denomination.
"It was a humbling experience learning about what the church does," Pongracz said. "People are doing some incredible work to help other people. They're rising above very difficult circumstances, and they show honor to God and the church."
Global understanding
At a time when technology and travel are bringing the world closer, the Sunday school class at St. Philip provided another opportunity for members to grow in their global understanding.
At 9:30 a.m. each Sunday the class met in the church parlor, where the pastor took a seat at a table with a laptop plugged into a set of speakers and a projector. On a wall, a white screen was set up to magnify the laptop image. A few keyboard strokes and several dial tones later, Amidon established a connection.
The technology didn't always work perfectly. In some countries -- Costa Rica and Zambia -- there was a noticeable audio or visual delay. In others -- France, where Amidon's daughter lives, and Denmark, where a man who grew up attending St. Philip now pastors an international church -- the connection hummed along flawlessly. And in one country -- Haiti -- church members made do with a DVD recording, supplied in advance by the brother-in-law of a church member.
Amidon e-mailed each of the missionaries a set of questions to help prepare them: What is your work like? What are you trying to accomplish? But church members jumped in with plenty of their own.
"It helps to ask a question and get an answer right away," said Kathryn Edwards, one of the class participants.
Class members said they would have listened for hours, but they had to cut off the missionaries to go worship at 11 a.m.
"I was touched by their enthusiasm," said church member Liz Dronzek of Raleigh. "They were so excited we were doing this. They never ran out of things to share with you."
Diversity in faith
Perhaps most enlightening to the church group were the lessons about how differently the church functions in each community and how diverse the expressions of one faith can be. In France, and particularly in Paris, regular churchgoers are so few that a decision to attend church is countercultural.
In other places such as Costa Rica, where the majority of residents are Roman Catholic, the Lutheran church is empowering people to shape a religious community in rural areas where Catholic priests are few.
During the last session, a hookup with the Rev. Chad Rimmer, pastor of the International Church of Copenhagen, some high school students joined the conversation.
Rimmer, who grew up at St. Philip and graduated from UNC-CH before going to seminary and then to Denmark, urged the high school students to bone up on foreign languages and cultures.
"You don't know what it's like to be in a foreign country, totally lost, and have someone come up to you and say in your own language, 'Can I help you with what you're looking for?'" he said.
Still, he suggested that despite the differences in language, culture and customs, a shared faith is a kind of common language that unites Christians.
That's a message many of these Christians gathered in talking to the missionaries.
"Being aware of other cultures, other ways of thinking, and realizing one is not superior to the other enables you to reach out as equals," Amidon said. "Once you grasp that idea, it's pretty neat."
Lutheran Pastors, Rescue Workers Respond to Buffalo Plane Crash
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen C. Biegner ('97) heard the Feb. 12 crash that claimed 50 lives when a commuter airplane plunged into a nearby home in suburban Buffalo, N.Y. "I got over there as fast as possible and started praying," said
Biegner, a pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Clarence Center, only a few doors down from the fiery site. "I saw a lot first responders being the hands of God," Biegner said. "They put themselves in harm's way. They focused on how to help and how to get people out."
The plane slammed into the home nose first and exploded into a fireball, killing everyone on board. Despite the intense heat, firefighters contained the blaze to the one property.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Randy P. Milleville, Zion's lead pastor, comforted the two survivors who had been inside the home at 10:15 p.m., when the plane burst through the roof. Douglas C. Wielinski, a 61-year-old engineer, died in his home. His wife Karen, 57, and daughter Jill, 22, escaped the house after the crash. Mother and daughter were treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital and released.
"The people who live there have no church home and Zion is reaching out to them," the Rev. Marie C. Jerge, bishop, Upstate New York Synod, said in a statement.
For the next 24 hours, Biegner and Milleville slept little. They hustled from the crash site to the fire hall providing support, and to Zion to coordinate care.
The morning after the tragedy, Lutherans and others in the community bought food to the fire hall for the rescue workers. A mother and daughter delivered heart-shaped cookies in a show of support and gratitude.
"I've never seen so much food show up at a site in my life," Biegner said. "There were a lot of hugs and tears. I saw God's presence in the midst of a horrific tragedy."
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, soon joined the pastoral outreach at the fire hall. He said the firefighters were somber and quiet as they returned from the disaster scene.
"It takes a considerable toll in the firefighters," Olsen said. "No amount of training really prepares you to see the things they saw."
Olsen headed to the wreckage site around noon. As he prayed, he breathed in the pungent burning smell from the home, where smoke still billowed.
"I wanted to be there when they removed the human remains to say a blessing," Olsen said. "I know God was with those people on the plane and able to shepherd them to a place of peace and mercy. I pray for their families. This is a crushing time and will be for many days ahead."
This was not Olsen's first time responding to a deadly disaster. During the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he served as chaplain to Staten Island's Rescue 5, which lost 11 firefighters.
Continental Connection Flight 3407 took off from Newark en route to Buffalo about an hour before the Feb. 12 tragedy. Investigators working to pinpoint a cause said that the pilots noted "significant ice buildup" moments before the plane hurtled from the sky.
Families and friends waiting for the plane to land six miles away at the Buffalo airport were taken to a senior citizens center in the nearby suburb of Cheektowaga. A few miles away in Williamsville, Kathy Johnston headed home to wait for her husband, unaware that his plane had crashed, according to one of her pastors.
Johnston had spent the evening consoling the family of an elderly woman from her congregation who died. Her death was not related to the plane crash. After Johnston left, the family heard about the plane crash and suspected it was her husband's flight. They called her, broke the news and then went to her home to offer solace, the pastor said.
Kevin Johnston was returning from a business trip when he died, according to news reports. He attended worship with his wife and three daughters, members of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Williamsville, led by the Rev. Wendy Buckley and the Rev. Timothy G. Madsen, co-pastors.
Early Valentine's Day, the community packed the church for a prayer service in remembrance of Johnston and the other victims. Madsen delivered a heartfelt message to the mourners.
"When we put our arms around each other and hold each other, we find God," he said.
Lutheran Pastors Offer Hope to Church Members Facing Job Losses
"I feel horrible for what people are going through," said Hansen, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, North Branch. "I also feel pretty helpless."
Other pastors are telling similar stories across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The economy is taking a toll on church members and congregations' ability to aid them.
"Everybody's dreams are dying and we don't have the resources to help them," said Hansen, adding that some laid-off members have exhausted the social service aid available to them.
For some people, "it feels like the world's coming down so hard that it blocks their ability to feel God's presence," he said.
"You pray for hope. You pray for a new day. But you don't let God off the hook either," he said. "After all, we believe in a God that has the ability to make changes. We believe in resurrection."
The Rev. Paul Wollner ('05), a South Carolina pastor, says the economic downturn is reshaping his ministry. Many members of his congregation are enduring layoffs or mandatory furloughs without pay.
"Pastorally, I'm spending time listening to lots of people making major life changes," said Wollner, pastor of Mt. Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Prosperity. "One of the best things we can do is to simply be present to those who are hurting."
At the same time, "the church needs to allow the creative power of the Holy Spirit to inspire us to new ways of caring for one another as it did during the Great Depression," he said.
Mt. Pilgrim is scaling back budgets for Christian education, youth and social ministries to offset an anticipated reduction in giving.
"In Prosperity, we're not seeing the greatest prosperity right now," Wollner said. "We're doing the same amount of ministry with fewer resources."
On Valentine's Day, Maricopa Lutheran Church near Phoenix is giving a gift it says is better than roses or chocolates to people losing jobs and homes: a free financial seminar.
Arizona bears one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Maricopa Lutheran, a satellite mission begun last year, is in the heart of one of the hardest hit communities.
"When the economy is bad, it becomes an opportunity for the church," said the Rev. Cora Aguilar, pastor of the mission.
"People turn to God when they don't have anything," Aguilar said. "When they are in abundance, some people don't think they need God."
In Florida, the Rev. Travis Kern also sees the economic downturn as a time for the church to step up its evangelism. People undergoing severe losses can benefit by being around congregations providing hope, comfort and caring friends, he said.
"Inviting people to hear the gospel might be the very thing that gets them through the tough times," said Kern, pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fort Lauderdale. "I'm not just talking about material goods. What we can bring to them is a relationship to God and a relationship to the church."
Job losses are hitting young adults in his congregation particularly hard, he said. Many are moving to less expensive cities, leaving them without their spiritual communities when they may need them the most.
"The people who need to hear our message of hope often aren't in the building on Sunday mornings," Kern said. "Churches need to figure out how to reach them."
Not every congregation is struggling. Offerings at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Brick, N.J., soared by 15 percent in 2008, according to the Rev. Stanley Ellison, the congregation's pastor.
Members also pledged an additional $240,000 in a capital campaign for the "work of ministry." Meanwhile, the 66-year-old pastor's pension plummeted. He says he may need to put off retirement.
That's an issue for many Americans.
"God gives whatever God gives," Ellison said.
February 9, 2009
Chandler Carriker ('04) Commissioned
Bishop Penrose Hoover of the ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod and representatives of the Philadelphia and Gettysburg seminaries joined in a festive worship service at Gettysburg's chapel for the commissioning of Chandler Carriker as Associate in Ministry January 30th. Carriker, who graduated with the MAR degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, directs the Theological Education with Youth (TEY) program for the two Pennsylvania seminaries.
January 21, 2009
Mark Cernigilia ('82), serving at St. Paul Lutheran in Aiken, SC was recently appointed by the ELCA Church Council to serve on the Program Committee of the ELCA Multicultural Ministries Unit. The Program Committee is made up of two representatives recommended by each of the various ethnic associations recognized by the ELCA. Mark was recommended by the EALA (European American Lutheran Association).
January 6, 2009
Christ the Victor to install first female pastor
BY BRANDON L. LEONARD - BLEONARD@VICAD.COM
Victoria Advocate, Victoria, TX www.victoriaadvocate.com
Amy Danchik ['08] did not always want to be a lead pastor.
She graduated with a degree in psychology and child development from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2004, hoping to go into youth ministry after the seminary.
Danchik's experience with TeamVOLS, a student community service and outreach organization of UT, and the advice of friends and mentors changed her plans though.
"I liked the combination of working with kids and being out in the community," Danchik said.
Four years later, the north Texas native will be installed as pastor at Christ the Victor Lutheran Church on Jan. 11. The installation will mark the first time a female minister will lead the church.
"It don't bother me one bit," said Carl Harding, a charter member of the church. "She does good."
Harding and his wife, Elrose Harding, were some of the original people to become part of the Christ the Victor congregation, which started as a mission church of First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1966.
The Rev. John Onda was sent by the Southwest Texas Synod to guide the congregation through church building process.
The mission church's congregation met for its first service in the American Legion Hall on Oct. 16, 1966. A little less than one year later, the church building was dedicated on May 28, 1967.
Elrose Harding said Danchik being a woman was a non-issue for the congregation.
"I've been to churches that have female pastors, and they all seem to do a great job," Elrose Harding said.
Not all Lutheran churches were as accepting of Danchik as Christ the Victor.
Danchik said a church in the North Texas Synod who interviewed her told her they had done so only because the synod asked and did not want a female pastor. Danchik refused to name the church.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, of which Christ the Victor is a member, ordained its first female minister, the Rev. Elizabeth Platz, in 1970, according to the ELCA's Web site, ELCA.org.
At the time, ordaining women was a controversial move for the Lutheran church.
Now, about 12 percent of ELCA ministers are women, according to a blog post by Martin E. Marty at beliefnet.com.
In the future, the percentage may be larger, Danchik said roughly half of the students in her classes at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary were females. She graduated with a master of divinity in May 2008.
Many at Christ the Victor, a congregation whose median age is in the mid-to-high 50s, hope Danchik's passion for children and young adults attracts younger people to join the church.
"I think one of the things that Amy demonstrated to me was her willingness to proclaim God's word to people," said member Harvey Spies. "I felt that Pastor Amy could reach out to youth and the community."
View the original article at http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/features/faith/story/384684.html#
Contact
Sandra Cline
Associate Director of Development and Alumni Relations
scline@ltss.edu
803-461-3252
4201 Main Street
Columbia, SC 29203