Julie Swanson, recently retired chief executive of Lutheran Family Services of Virginia, will receive a national service award this month. The Nationwide Association of Lutheran Development Executives, will present her with its Outstanding Executives Award at its annual banquet in Minneapolis. The organization cited her visionary and inspirational leadership, effectiveness in management and fund-raising, her example of Christian stewardship and commitment to the church during her 12 years at LFS. In her tenure, programs were launched and the agency expanded from nine locations funded by a $9 million budget to 36 locations and a budget of $35 million.

            Rebeccca Wicker has joined the staff as a vicar at St. Michael, Blacksburg, and Christ, Radford, for four months. A member of Good Shepherd Lutheran, Waterboro, SC, she is in the call process. She is working with children, youth and families at St. Michael and leading worship and working with campus ministry during the pastoral vacancy at Christ, Radford.

            Tony Marbury has been named director of youth and family ministry at St. Mark, Charlottesville. A leader in the congregation since 2000, he is retired from Air Force service of providing secure airborne communications support for the president, vice president and secretaries of state and defense.   

            Whitney Huff has been employed as music director at Grace and Glory, Palmyra.

            Kara Yates, College, Salem, has signed to play lacrosse at Lynchburg College next year. She is the only girl who completed four levels of welding instruction at her school.

             A Lenten series at Holy Trinity, Lynchburg, is featuring "Bumper Sticker Theology." Some of the topics: "If you pray hard enough, God will answer," "God never gives you more than you can use," "Our faith gets us to God," "It's all part of God's plan" and "Salvation is about getting into heaven."

            Youth and adults from Grace and Glory, Palmyra, traveled to Our Saviour, Warrenton, for a 30-hour weekend famine. All funds raised were for World Vision.

            In a March Madness basketball event at Bethel, Winchester, money will be raised for malaria nets by a group attempting to make 1,000 free throws in an hour. All donations will be matched. In Lent 4 Losers at Bethel, "The focus is on finding ways to lose ourselves and find new life in following Jesus."

            Peace, Charlottesville, issued a call for worship servants---ushers, assisting ministers, nursery helpers, projectionists, sound managers, cantors, offering counters and communion setter-uppers. "These good folk add to the richness of worship and help us to engage in community worship each week."

            Luther Memorial, Blacksburg, has started a Friday lunch program, offering a hot meal and conversation to members of the community.

            At Apostles, Gloucester, Pete and Betsy Liljeberg are planning another mission trip to the Maya village of Xojola, Guatemala. A team of 15 to 20 volunteers will provide medical care and supplies and install cook stoves. They have made this trip for eight years.

God's irresistible call 

           When first elected presiding bishop, I was often asked what it meant to be the first woman entrusted with this call. I didn't like that question then. I'm still ambivalent about it now.

           Why, in the 21st century, did my gender matter? Why, in 2013, was the election of a woman historic? I didn't understand all the fuss. My parents had raised me to believe that if I worked hard enough I could be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up. My maternal grandmother was a businesswoman in the 1930s. My pediatrician was a woman. My high school biology teacher had her doctorate. All in the last century. However, "the question" does draw me to reflect on my journey in Word and Sacrament ministry.

           We had a faithful home. Church was an important part of our lives. Sunday school, Sunday worship, vacation Bible school (I'm pretty adept at illustrating salvation history with pipe cleaners and Popsicle sticks), the seasons of the church year all shaped my life. God was real and close. So, when asked by my junior high guidance counselor what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered: "A Lutheran pastor." Women can't be pastors, he told me, and that was that.

            During my senior year in high school, my father had open-heart surgery. In 1973 this was a serious and risky procedure. My faith was shaken, and it caused me to ask all of the existential questions: Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is omnipotent and loving, why is there suffering? Is there a God? What does life mean? I presented these questions to my pastor, John Evans, and waited for answers. Instead of lecturing me, he gave me the space and the grace to think even more deeply. Then I went off to college.

            College isn't always conducive to church attendance. Having Sunday morning come after Saturday night on a college campus is not the best arrangement. I drifted, but I still had my list of questions. Then something unexpected happened-I went to a fine Presbyterian college and the assistant campus chaplain was a woman! So I sent her my list, and she also encouraged me to question, doubt and explore. I wasn't the only one. She invited several of us to meet with her. We called ourselves the Heretics Group.

            By my senior year I knew I didn't want to be a band director. I applied to divinity school and was accepted! By now the Lutheran Church in America (an ELCA predecessor) had been ordaining women for seven years. By the end of my first year of div school I felt deeply called to Word and Sacrament ministry. I contacted my bishop and let him know. That's not how the process works. One meets with one's bishop before one attends seminary. Oops. Nevertheless, Kenneth Sauer, then bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod, brought me into the fold and I was a model candidate after that. I was ordained in 1981.

          The 37 years I have served have been a blessing. I was encouraged by my pastors, supported by my church, and have been extended calls from congregations. But the 37 years have not been without difficulty. Early on I was often the only woman at clergy gatherings. The legitimacy of my call was challenged. My compensation was less than my male colleagues. In every congregation I served, people left because they couldn't accept a woman pastor. Once, while pumping gas in my clerics, a shocked man exclaimed, "I've never seen a woman before!" A pastor told me that I was no bishop of his.

            In this issue of Living Lutheran, you have read the stories of remarkable women living out their baptismal vocation as laypeople, pastors and deacons. We didn't say yes to God's call because we wanted to be pioneers, or trailblazers or to make some kind of a statement. We said yes because God's call was irresistible, because of the joy of serving the gospel, because of the great privilege of walking with people as the deep love of Jesus becomes real for them. These are our call stories.

 

A monthly message from the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Her email address: bishop@elca.org. This article originally appeared in Living Lutheran's March 2018 issue. Reprinted with permission.

            The first successful effort to start a Lutheran congregation in Lynchburg began at a service at the YMCA on Oct. 12, 1892, when 27 people gathered and collected an offering of $4.20. A mission committee was appointed and the process of organizing Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was set in motion.

            That's the beginning described in a new 160-page history of Holy Trinity, started by Cecil Spotswood Stevens Mullen and completed by Marjorie K. Hunter and Pastor Dennis Roberts. Many photographs add to the stories of the congregation's three buildings, its pastors and its ministries. The service of such leading pastors as Drs. Homer Anderson, M. L. Minnick and Marshall Mauney is recorded here.

            The German influence through a sister congregation in Germany and a strong music ministry, work with Habitat, service at a food pantry and other forms of outreach and ecumenical ministry are hallmarks of Lynchburg history.

            The book, priced at $10, is available at the church office.

            A dozen youth from First Lutheran, Norfolk, gave their thoughts on the Winter Celebration for their congregation newsletter. Not by Bread Alone was the theme, based on the temptation story in Matthew 4.

            The gathering of youth and adults at Eagle Eyrie, near Lynchburg, highlighted the truth that Jesus is with us in all of the temptations and challenges of life, with strength, forgiveness and guidance.

            Laurene Silsdorf wrote, "I learned that temptation can be overcome by believing in God. I liked my small group, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old friends. Winter Cel is about reconnecting with God and, for me, escaping life's temptations and stress."

            Max Kelly said, "The event was based on the temptation of Jesus by the Devil and also about growing our faith and connection with God. I liked my small group the most out of everything. I learned that I should put more faith in God."

            Grace McGhee said, "I learned how to share my faith with new people. I loved singing songs in a large group. Winter Cel was all about sharing our faith and teaching people about God's word."

(Members of Muhlenberg, Harrisonburg, are writing Stories of Faith for a Lenten devotional series)

 

Psalm 145:4-5, 8

            One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

             My faith story begins and ends with my parents who were both full of faith, compassionate but strong, unconditional in their love, encouraging when challenges arose and always active in helping people in need. My Dad began his ministry as a prison and hospital chaplain and went on to become head of social ministry and world relief for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

             His preaching was filled with real-life stories of those who needed or had received help and he was able to go around the world bringing the church's resources to those in need. He even supported a food shipment to the North Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War because even then, he said, we are to love our enemies. He wrote the first handbook on how American Lutherans must work together on disaster relief.

            My mother not only raised five of us but was active in my father's ministries of outreach. She baked pies for everybody. She sought out the best piano teacher for me in high school. Later on, she encouraged me in parish ministry and in reaching my musical goals. She would feed large groups of guests all the time and was known to wash guests' cars before they could pull out of our driveway. She overcame losing her mother, being an orphan and taking care of her sisters and became a nurse before meeting my dad.

We always had family devotions together and said the Lord's Prayer every day. We could hear mom and dad say it again at night together. Moved by their strong witness, I have never lost the sense of God's presence, even during very difficult days.

            Several years ago, I had the chance to take the Lenoir-Rhyne choir to my home congregation in Baltimore and give a concert. As the choir surrounded the audience to sing our last piece, I was very moved as I remembered my parents, especially during a piece I had written. It was as if I had come full circle and the whole family was together again in that moment. Needless to say Jesus' Spirit and resurrection were swirling around. I feel extremely blessed to have had such incredible parents who were witnesses to the Dying and Risen Lord!

            Bishop Bob Humphrey has been working with synod and ELCA Domestic Mission leaders to call a director for evangelical mission (DEM)/assistant to the bishop. Seventeen applications were submitted from all over the country.

            Serving under the direction of both the ELCA and synod bishop, this leader will be responsible for mission development and redevelopment, working with rostered ministers, synod staff, congregations and institutions and agencies to find creative ways to proclaim the Gospel, grow in stewardship and foster new or renewed vitality in congregations and communities.

            The DEM will lead and support the synod in areas of mission, stewardship, evangelism, leadership development and justice. He or she also will serve as an assistant to the bishop, responding as needed throughout the synod.

            The applicants represented a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences and skills. Steps over the next couple of months will include prayerful conversations and structured interviews that hopefully lead to a call for one who is deeply inspired and truly gifted for this important ministry.Your prayers for all involved are requested.

            An Eagle Scout project has produced five new primitive tent camp sites at Hungry Mother Retreat Center Camp, according to Chris Stevens, camp director. Five primitive tent camp sites with fire rings and picnic tables have been added in an Eagle Scout project. Donations are sought for metal frames.

            The third annual spring picnic and volleyball tournament will be held on Pentecost Sunday, May 20. Donations will be used to upgrade inadequate refrigeration in the kitchen. Both cabins need exterior repairs such as pressure washing, sealing and landscaping.

            Summer Bible camp will be held July 1-6. Registration starts in March. The fee is $250. Some limited camperships are available. A limited number of spots are available for volunteer junior counselors to work with the staff from Caroline Furnace, Stevens said..                                           

           Lutheran World Relief and Church World Service have announced ingathering plans for quilts at four Virginia locations this year.

            They are: Bethany Christian Church, 5400 Forest Hill Ave., Richmond 23225, March 1-April 30, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. -1 p.m. Bon Air Christian Church, 2071 Buford Rd., North Chesterfield 23235, April 2-May 15, Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon.

            Shenandoah District, Church of the Brethren, 1453 Westview School Rd.,

Weyers Cave 24486, April 3-May 10, Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

            Hampton Christian Church, 151 East Mercury Blvd., Hampton, 23669, year-round, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

            Download a donation form at lwf.org/va. Donors are asked to bring someone to help unload boxes.

            In a Wythe County visit on Sunday, Feb. 25, Bishop Bob Humphrey met with members of St. Paul and Grace, Rural Retreat. He preached, joined the youth for a selfie and collected a noisy offering for the ForwardingFaith campaign. Pastor Jonathan Hamman told him of the internship program at the former Attoway-Kimbnerlin Parish and present work with the Walker Mountain Parish. United Lutheran Seminary will be seeking internship congregations;

            The visit of the bishop and wife Barbra ended with an inspection of the goat population at the Hamman home.