Installation of Rev. Lucas Witt

 Rev. Lucas Witt  and his wife Sylvia 

with their three children at his installation.

  Pastor Lucas is the new 
Associate pastor and missionary

at Immanuel Lutheran Church

 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Rev. Donald Schaefer was the officiant 

 and installed Rev. Witt on 

Sunday, December 15, 2019.

Rev. Aaron Bueltmann 

with a blessing for his fellow circuit pastor.

A Blessing for the whole Witt Family.

Rev. Lucas served as a vicar

 at this congregation.

The gathered Circuit pastors join together

 for the installation celebration. 

The beautiful historic church

 is especially lovely at Advent.

Pastor Witt invites all to

 join them for the reception.

Welcome back to the Southeastern District!

May the Lord bless

 your ministry here among us.

Installation- Rev. Jonathan Blanke

The Installation Service 

for Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke

Resurrection Lutheran Church

Cary, North Carolina

Sunday- Dec. 15, 2019

Front Row: L to R:  Rev. Daniel Tesso Nedjo,

 Rev. Mike Merker, Rev. Bill Beyer,

 Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke, Rev. Larry Eckart,

 and SMP Vicar Alan Shaw

Back Row: Rev. Jonathan Frusti, Rev. Jim Daub,

 Rev. Larry Lineberger, Rev. Jon Richter,

 Rev. David Brooks, Rev. Scott Lohman.

The Blessings from the Pastors 

to the new installed pastor.

Southeastern District Vice President- 

Rev. Bill Beyer 

presided for the Installation.

Rev. Bill Beyer and the 

newly installed Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke.

This is the beautiful altar at 
Resurrection Lutheran Church

 for the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

A very special welcome to 

Pastor Jonathan and his wife Juli.

May the Lord bless

 your new ministry setting.

(Special thanks to Megan Daub and Jamee Thieme
 for photos for this post and assistance
 from Rev. Michael Merker.)

150th Anniversary- Charlottesville, Va

Rev. Ben Maton 

at the 150th celebration 

of Immnauel Lutheran Church

 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Immanuel Lutheran Church

150th Anniversary Celebration

October 27, 2019

The 10 am Celebration was a beautiful service

 and the Guest Preacher was 

Southeastern District President- 

Rev. Dr. John R Denninger.

The service was followed by a Barbecue catered by 
Mission Barbeque with games, music and fellowship.
We give thanks for the ministry
 of this SED congregation and their faithful members
 and Rev. Ben Maton.

50th Anniversary Emmanuel - Hampton, VA

75th Anniversary Celebration

Emmanuel Lutheran Church 
in Hampton, Virginia celebrated
 their 75th Anniversary on 
Sunday, October 20, 2019. 

 Rev. Timothy Utton - Pastor at Emmanuel-

leads singing with the children

 for the Children's Worship time.

Wonderful music 

for the Worship celebration.

 The celebration included 

Southeastern District President John Denninger 

and time to reflect on years of ministry of Emmanuel 

and to look forward to a future founded in mission work. 

President Denninger acknowledges

 the gifts of the ministry

 at Emmanuel, Hampton, Virginia.

The Church’s ongoing mission work includes 

supporting organizations like-(H.E.L.P.Inc)

Hampton Roads Ecumenical Lodgings and Provisions,
  Habitat for Humanity,

 making quilts for Lutheran World Relief,
 knit hats/gloves/scarves for the homeless,
 food pantry assistance, 
and prison ministries with
 the South Eastern Correctional Organization. 
It was a great celebration service 
followed by a barbeque lunch.



Visual Faith Retreat- Fredericksburg, VA

Visual Faith Show and Tell.

The tables are ready for a gathering on

Saturday, November 9, 2019.

Redeemer Lutheran Church 

in Fredericksburg, Virginia

was the gracious host for the

 Walking with the Lord event.

Vintage photos were passed out to all the attendees.

They were tasked with "telling" the story

 of their "new-found great, or great, great grandmother."

There were some very funny photos- and stories.

But, what is the story, or even the 

FAITH STORY of our own relatives?

Here are photos of Connie Denninger's grandmother,

  great grandmother and great, great grandmother.

Though there is a bit of the story of these women of faith-

most of the story remains untold.

After the death of her mother, Katherine, in August 2004, 

as she was sifting through the shoe boxes of paper clippings, 

she almost missed this clipping of the death of her great grandmother.

The impactful sentence was:

 "...she was a devoted mother

 to her children she was mindful 

not only of their bodily 

but also and especially of their spiritual welfare."

That changed some priorities

 and rearranged some intentional life choices.

This song- Find Us Faithful sums up this 

Keep the Faith Milestone project.

What are some of the events, connections, 

and legacy of YOUR OWN story of faith?

Is it in a format for future generations

 to know your story of faith?

Those gathered for this event learned about some 

Visual Faith practices and learned about some basic 

faith story-telling resources.

After a wonderful lunch, 

those gathered began 

to create their own Walking with the Lord 

accordion book.

Before their arrival, the attendees had been emailed

 the worksheet for the project 

to collect and fill out the information.
walking-with-the-lord-worksheet

 Lea finished her project when 
she got home from the retreat.
 A printable resource that can be used for either 
an accordion book or paper bag journal
 is found here:
walking-with-the-lord-additional resources

We are also very excited about joining 

with Lutheran Hour Ministry 
to help spread the word about knowing
 our story to tell our story.

 We want to help all people be

 eager conversationalists about their faith.

Telling the Story of God's Faithfulness.

Visual Faith Coaches Connie Denninger 

and Fran Kassouf teamed to bring this event

to Central Virginia.

They are blessed to partner

 in their efforts to bring 

faith enriching tools and resources

 to all in their ministry paths.

Check out the resources on the 

Visual Faith Ministry website- 

where there are more than 1,000 

Free resources to download 

and use for personal, 

school and church ministry purposes.

visualfaithmin.org/visual-faith-resources

Bethany Lutheran Church- Fishersville, VA

Rev. Tim and Sue Bohlmann

of Bethany Lutheran Church

 in Fishersville, Virginia 

welcomed everyone to the 

Dedication Service on Sunday,

 November 10, 2019.

                                                                      -photo from SED Central Region FB page

A long time project of nearly 9 years

 has led to a beautiful new facility 

and the relocation 

of an entire congregation and ministry.

The history for this congregation spans centuries.

The first recorded baptism was April 6, 1772.

The families were gathering for worship

 in the 1740's in the Shenandoah Valley.

They have moved multiple times

 in their history and continue to seek facilities

 that meet the needs of the people.

They are a blessed example of "living out mission"

 that is more important than a building.

Sue Bohlmann and son Sam.

Sam is an active servant 

in this faith community.

                                                                                                                       -photo from SED Central Region FB page

Pastor Tim explains the

 "blowing of the shofar"

 for this special workshop service.

A wonderful catered meal 

was followed by a host of Thank Yous.

(center) Kirk Hymes- Southeastern District- 

Executive Director of Finance and Stewardship

gives praise to (left) Pastor Tim Bohlmann

for the teamwork and vision

 for the Ministry site move.

(right) SED President- Rev. Dr. John Denninger

 gives thanks for the long term partnership in Mission 

with Bethany Lutheran Church. 

 The views out of the school classroom windows.  

Lots of space here.

 Early Childhood Center

Beautifully designed space for children.

The view as you leave the parking lot of 

Bethany Lutheran Church.

Lie down in pastures green.

May this new ministry site be a blessing

 to the communities that surround it here.

10th Anniversary- Good Shepherd- Midlothian, VA

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

 in Midlothian, Virginia celebrated their 

10th Anniversary  

on Sunday, October 6, 2019.

Rev. Karl Schmidt was one of the lectors.

He served this congregation 

during a time of pastoral vacancy.

Rev. Art Umbach participated 

in the service by leading the prayers.

He recently retired from serving Good Shepherd

 as an associate pastor- 
after serving for many years as 
Mission and Ministry Facilitator for the 
Southeastern District- Central Region.

The message for the day was given by 

Rev. Dr. John R. Denninger- 

Southeastern District President.

There is always top-notch 

worship music at Good Shepherd.

Rev. Daniel Prugh- 

pastor at Good Shepherd, leads the Children's Message.

This church has a wonderful Child Development 

and Care Center connected to their ministry.

 An outside lunch dodged rain drops 

and everyone enjoyed a catered BBQ

 and the wonderful Pie bar.

Rev. Dan and Jenn Prugh and their children-

Aaron and Anna.

 May they be blessed in the ministry

 among His people in the Kingdom.