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2017 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 976
Commending St. Mark Lutheran Church.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 17, 2017
Agreed to by the Senate, February 22, 2017

 

WHEREAS, on May 19, 2018, St. Mark Lutheran Church will celebrate 50 years of ministering to the spiritual needs of its members and the surrounding communities in York County, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, and Williamsburg; and

WHEREAS, St. Mark Lutheran Church was established in 1968 under the leadership of the Reverend Robert Anderson with 102 members as a part of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and

WHEREAS, St. Mark Lutheran Church held groundbreaking services on June 15, 1975; and

WHEREAS, St. Mark Lutheran Church has been an active member body of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) since the founding of the ELCA on January 1, 1988; and

WHEREAS, St. Mark Lutheran Church has benefited from the spiritual leadership of seven pastors in its history, the Reverend Robert Anderson, the Reverend Gordon Hite, the Reverend Dave Delaney, the Reverend Wayne Shelor, the Reverend Gary Erdos, the Reverend Larry Laine, and the Reverend Joel Neubauer; and

WHEREAS, St. Mark Lutheran Church has supported Lutheran seminarians by providing training, education, and spiritual guidance for vicars C. J. Bailey, Margaret Ashby, D. J. Dent, Jennifer Henifeld, Michael Hughes, Chelsea Spencer, Ben Kifer, Ben Sloss, and Suzanne Stierwalt; and

WHEREAS, the members of St. Mark Lutheran Church recognize the importance of living the Word of God by giving time and resources in support of the local community with projects such as Quilts of Honor, Mended Hearts, the Food Bank, and the Sine Nomine Concert Series; and

WHEREAS, St. Mark Lutheran Church has also been active in the world community by assisting the Refugio de los Suenos in Quito, Ecuador, an orphanage in China, and Lutheran World Relief; and

WHEREAS in October 2017, St. Mark Lutheran Church will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in Wittenberg, Germany, and the founding of the Lutheran Church; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend St. Mark Lutheran Church for its many contributions to the residents of Hampton Roads on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Reverend Joel Neubauer, pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church, as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for the congregation’s legacy of service to the community and the Commonwealth.