We join the people of the Southwest California Synod as we offer our care and condolences to the family and friends of Mrs. Beverly Anderson, who passed away on Monday, July 12, 2021. We also hold the Rev. J. Roger Anderson, Beverly’s husband and the first Bishop of the Southwest California Synod, in prayer.
Read MoreWe continue our prayers for the family of Rev. Dr. Nathan Bowman, Chaplain at Hospice of the West.
Pastor Bowman writes, “Our daughter Moriah departed to be with God peacefully on July 16, 2021. We are having a service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving on this Saturday (July 24, 2021), at Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church in Sun City at 10:00 AM with prelude beginning at 9:45. The service will be followed by a brunch. It is a service open to all, and will include communion.
I wanted to thank you for your support and prayers for all of us during this time. We are at peace, grieving a very precious life, but thankful that her suffering time is over. [Attached] is a working copy of the bulletin that gives a little more history about this journey in our life…”
Read MoreAt our 2021 Assembly, we took time to remember the rostered ministers who have entered the church triumphant since our last synod assembly, as well as the Holy Closures of two of our congregations.
Read MoreWe pray for the family of Pastor David Halmers.
Rev. David Edward Halmers, 83, of South Windsor, CT, died Thursday, May 27, 2021, at home surrounded by his family. Pastor Halmers had moved back to New England in recent months due to failing health. He remained rostered in Grand Canyon Synod.
Read MoreWe pray for the family of Reverend Dick E. Hamlin, who died Monday morning, May 3, 2021. We especially pray for his wife Jayne.
A service will be held Thursday, May 13, 2021, 2 pm at La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church (6300 E Bell Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85254). Masks will be required indoors. No reception is planned. Livestream available at live.lacasadecristo.com/.
Clergy who wish to robe and process will gather at 1:30 pm in the choir room. The color of the day (Ascension Day) is white.
Read MoreWe pray for the friends and family of Pastor Scott Stein, especially his wife Marjean. On April 15, 2021, Pastor Scott Ray Stein was called to his Savior after a battle with prostate cancer and sarcoma, as well as early onset Alzheimer’s. He was retired from Mount Cross Lutheran Church in Payson.
A Celebration of Life service will take place on April 30 at 4:00 PM MDT. Due to COVID, this service will be for immediate family only, but will be livestreamed for his friends and family far and wide. Website to share memories and for more information on the memorial service including livestream links: bit.ly/pastorscott.
Read MoreA memorial service for Rev. Dr. Daniel R. Defassio was live-streamed on Facebook, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Bishop Deborah Hutterer and Pastor Phil Gustafson were among those who celebrated his life and ministry .
A copy of the service is available on the same Facebook page, Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church, Sun City, AZ. Feel free to share this link with all who would like to remember.
Read MorePastor Tim Nybroten, Resurrection Lutheran in Tucson, writes to tell us of the death of Rev. Wayne Viereck: “Pastor Wayne passed into the loving arms of God just before midnight on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. We hold Pat and the Viereck family in our prayers, and we thank God for Wayne’s many years of faithful service to Resurrection Lutheran and to the greater Church.”
A memorial service for Pastor Wayne is scheduled for Saturday, April 3rd at 1:00 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. All CDC Covid-19 protocols will be followed.
Read MoreThe Reverend Franklyn Annesifor Caron, longtime member of ELCA Grand Canyon Synod, died peacefully at the age of 91 on Friday, March 19, 2021 at Marley House Hospice in Prescott, AZ.
He was born June 29, 1929 to Annesifor and Ella Caron in Butte, Montana. Reverend Caron lived a long and storied life: musician, dancer, rodeo rider, miner, locomotive engineer, Marine, small business owner, and finally, pastor. We’ve updated this post with his full obituary.
Read MoreThe Rev. Dr. Daniel Defassio, pastor at Shepherd of the Desert, Sun City, entered the church triumphant on January 22, 2021. He died of complications of Covid-19.
We pray for Suzy, his wife, and his family and friends and congregation. Please contact the synod office for Suzy’s address if needed.
Read MoreFollowing the death of his wife Kay, we pray for Pastor Vernon Victorson and family. Kay Victorson died Monday, January 4, 2021. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in April, 2020. As Pastor Victorson shared, "The strife is o'er, the battle done; Now is the victor's triumph won! Now be the song of praise begun. Alleluia!"
There are no plans for a service until after the pandemic, when a memorial celebration will be held at First Lutheran in Albany, New York.
Eternal God, your love is stronger than death, and your passion more fierce than the grave. We rejoice in the lives of those whom you have drawn into your eternal embrace. Keep us in joyful communion with them until we join the saints of every people and nation gathered before your throne in your ceaseless praise, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Read MoreWe pray for the friends and family of Pastor Glen Larsen, UCC, who served as the interim pastor for Faith Lutheran, Yuma. Pastor Larsen died of pancreatic cancer on November 9, 2020. We especially pray for his wife, Linda.
Read MoreWe mourn Cheryl Stewart Pero, a theologian, writer, advocate and educator, who died Oct. 28. She will be remembered by many for her contributions and her legacy in Lutheran education, and as someone who shaped and challenged the status quo in the church.
Read MoreTo celebrate Pr. Johnson’s life and service to ELCA World Hunger, we share words from his book, No Time for Silence:
I have Alzheimer’s disease. Nothing to brag about, nothing to be ashamed about, and I see no reason to be silent about it. My brain served me well for eighty-five years … I want to give people resources that will help them think and act critically in an age of confusion and conflicting voices.
Read MoreIn observance of All Saints Day, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton recalls the lives of two notable saints in the ELCA and reminds us that on this day we give thanks to God for the lives of all who have died this year and for the promise of the resurrection that is sure to come.
Read MoreNormally, our synod assembly is the time when we honor rostered leaders of the Grand Canyon Synod who have died since the last gathering. This year, in this video In Memoriam, we remember and celebrate their lives as part of the Bishop’s Fall Gathering as well as All Saints Day.
Almighty God, you have knit your people together in one communion in the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Read MoreWe are grateful for the life and ministry of President Adita Torres, Lutheran Church of Peru. Adita died of COVID-19 on her 61st birthday, August 10, 1959-2020. May she be welcomed to the communion of saints with the same love she offered on earth. God bless her memory.
An interview posted on The Lutheran World Federation site sheds light on her work in Peru, and Bishop Michael Rinehart, Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, shares a remembrance.
Read MoreOur sincere condolences to the Malagasy Lutheran Church (MLC) following the death of the church’s president, Rev. Dr David Rakotonirina. Rakotonirina, 58, succumbed to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on 11 July in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo. More info on the LWF site.
We thank you, Lord God, for brave and believing people who planted your message around the world. We praise you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, who worked in them to gather and give order to this community, and who still sustains it. Remembering all those who have gone before us, we pray that we may follow as they followed, in the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Read MoreErvin P. Langholz died on July 8, 2020 in Sun City, Arizona. A funeral service—for immediate family only—will be held at American Lutheran Church, where he was a member and had once served as Pastor of Care Ministry. A Celebration of Life for the extended congregation will occur at a later date. He recently celebrated 60 years of ordination.
O God of grace and glory, we remember before you our brother Ervin. We thank you for giving him to us to know and to love as a companion in our pilgrimage on earth. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us faith to see that death has been swallowed up in the victory of our Lord, Jesus Christ, so that we may live in confidence and hope until, by your call, we are gathered to our heavenly home in the company of all your saints; through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
Read MorePastor Steve Haggmark, who had served as the Interim Pastor at Spirit of Grace, Surprise, died April 28, 2020. We pray for his Nancy, his wife, and his family. Please contact the synod office for Nancy’s address if needed.
Eternal God, your love is stronger than death, and your passion more fierce than the grave. We rejoice in the lives of those whom you have drawn into your eternal embrace. Keep us in joyful communion with them until we join the saints of every people and nation gathered before your throne in your ceaseless praise, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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