Rev. Christine Stoxen Receives 2025 Bedenbaugh Award from LTSS

We join in celebrating the Rev. Christine Stoxen, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chandler, Arizona, for receiving the 2025 Bedenbaugh Award from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS). This distinguished honor is awarded annually to alumni who exemplify faithful leadership in ministry, service, and theological witness.

Pastor Stoxen, a 2000 graduate of LTSS, will be honored during the seminary’s Alumni Day celebration on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s main campus in Hickory, North Carolina. Due to prior commitments, she will share her remarks via a prerecorded message during the Afternoon Forum.

The presentation will take place at 2:15 p.m. in Belk Centrum, as part of a larger conversation on the future of theological education with ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. The forum follows a full day of worship, learning, and community, including a Holy Eucharist service, lecture from Lutheran World Federation’s Savanna Sullivan, and a barbecue lunch.

As Lutherans, we are called to recognize the faithful service of our leaders, and Pastor Stoxen’s ministry among us—especially her dedication to collaborative leadership in the Fiesta Conference—is a gift to the whole church. Her receiving the Bedenbaugh Award is a reflection not only of her personal call, but of the vibrancy and resilience of ministry across our synod.