By Kelly O’Hara Dyer, Correspondent
For Luther graduates, a lifetime spent in service to others is common. Whether alumni find their vocation in a standard pastoral setting or serve their communities in another form, giving back remains a key tenet of faith.
For some alumni, however, this mission goes even further. These individuals are finding different ways to support, strengthen and serve the larger church itself through their actions.
Mentor, trainer and coach
Jon Lee, ’66
As an example, Jon Lee, 73, of Dallas, has spent the better part of the past decade mentoring younger pastors and helping congregations learn to thrive in the 21st century.
In 2007, Lee retired as pastor of Dallas-based King of Glory Lutheran Church after 35 years. During his ministry, his congregation grew from 400 members to almost 2,000, a notable achievement given that Lutherans are a minority faith in Texas.
“I went from the Midwest where there are lots of Lutherans to Dallas, where Lutherans make up less than 1 percent of the population,” Lee says with a chuckle. “It’s a very different setting, but it’s challenging and wonderful.”
Today, Lee remains an active mentor, sounding board and coach for younger pastors in his area.
“When I retired,” Lee says, “I began to realize more fully how my life had been blessed by the church, and that it was time for me to give back. I began to ask, ‘What is God calling me to do in this next chapter of my life?’ I realized that over the last 20 years, my most fulfilling experiences were working with leaders of the church, both lay and clergy. After taking a year’s sabbatical, I simply made myself available to work with pastors and congregations as the bishop saw the need.”
In addition to mentoring pastors in the San Antonio, Austin and Dallas areas, Lee also works with Lutheran congregations to help leaders better identify and live their mission.
“Pete Steinke, who initiated both the Bridgebuilder program for conflicted churches and Healthy Congregations, had asked if I would work with him on a project, along with former Bishop Paul Blom,” Lee says. “It’s called New Visions, and it’s about training leaders to focus on their mission. It’s asking congregations, ‘What do you think God is calling you to be and do?'”
Lee believes that the largest hurdle facing congregations and church leaders today is the paralysis that can come from fear of change.
“Part of what I do in the training is help people understand congregations as an emotional system,” Lee says. “We’re a lot less rational than we think we are, and anxiety plays a huge part in any organization. When we’re caught up in high anxiety, we don’t think very well. [Relieving that anxiety is] a process of thoughtfulness and of rethinking and going back to the Scriptures and asking, ‘What are we here for?’ The only mission that the church has is to participate with God in God’s mission. It seems to me as you read Scripture that God’s mission is all about healing and redeeming and restoring God’s creation. Therefore, the only mission that the church has is to participate with God in God’s mission. That’s it.”
Force for stewardship
Lisa Lewton, ’04
Another Luther alum working to support the larger Lutheran church in a unique way is Lisa Lewton.
When Lewton was first called to St. John Lutheran Church in Dickinson, N.D., seven years ago, she welcomed the opportunity to minister in her home state, and to become part of an extremely devoted faith community.
Lewton, 36, now serves as one of two pastors at St. John, which has a congregation of about 1,500. Located in the central-west portion of North Dakota, the rapidly growing Dickinson sits just on the southern edge of the region’s oil boom.
“Our church was founded in 1903 and it’s a unique place,” Lewton says. “When I started here, there had only been two senior pastors over the course of 50 years. This is also a church where you don’t have to worship too many times to know that it’s a very generous congregation.”
Lewton says she thought her church members might be interested in giving to Luther Seminary as a way to support a new generation of church leaders.
To introduce the idea, she sent 40 letters to church members who had served on the church’s call committee, inviting them to give to Luther.
“[The letters] were a bit of a limb for me to go out on because I’m kind of shy,” Lewton admits. However, she adds, “I think it’s an important task of a pastor to equip people to be thankful in the way that they live, and this is one way to do that. I’ve really been fortunate to be part of a church culture that is not about scarcity, but about generosity. That changes how you see money, and how you understand what it means to ask people to give a gift to something that’s important. Whether [the call committee members] know it or not, they know about raising up leaders in the church, and I wanted to invite them to be an even more integral part of that.”
Spiritual ambassadors
Rachel, ’12, and John Simonson, ’12
Lewton’s mail campaign fell on fertile ground, and the letter recipients responded generously with their financial support. That helped inspire Lewton’s friend and fellow pastor, Rachel Simonson, to do the same thing with her congregation.
Simonson and her husband, John, serve as co-pastors for three churches in and near Killdeer, N.D., a small town about 30 miles north of Dickinson. The Simonsons serve congregations at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Killdeer, and two smaller churches in nearby Dunn Center and Halliday.
Rachel, 30, and John, 34, met while attending Luther Seminary.
“Both John and I love Luther and had such a good experience there,” Rachel Simonson says. “It was really formational for our faith and our vocation, and we were just so impressed with all of the professors and the staff. We really enjoy connecting people with Luther because of our dedication to it. We feel that Luther gave us so much that we’d like to be able to return something to it.”
Like Lewton, Rachel Simonson identified members of her congregation she thought would be interested in supporting the church’s next generation of leaders and sent them a letter introducing the idea.
“We have people [in our congregations] who are looking to give money to good places,” Simonson says. “As pastors, we have to keep in mind that giving is spiritual to people. Be confident that God is at work in people’s hearts. Any conversation on giving or on any other spiritual practice really is centered in faith. Asking people to give is inviting them into a spiritual practice.”
Simonson took her beliefs about giving and stewardship one step further, standing up at a recent synod assembly alumni gathering and encouraging her fellow attendees to consider inviting their church members to support Luther financially, as well.
“That was really kind of a casual, impromptu thing that just popped up,” Simonson says. “I basically told [attendees] that I’ve found that people really do want to give. While we may be intimidated to ask, it’s important to know that people are actually ready to do so. God is working in people’s hearts long before we get there. It’s surprising how easy that conversation can be.”