"Served with Grace" -- The Rev Dr. Richard T Hinz

The Rev. Dr. Richard T. Hinz

was

"served with grace"

thoughout his life by the 

Shepherd King -- Jesus Christ

.  

On Friday, August 31, we gathered 

at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 

in Springfield, VA

to give praise and thanksgiving to God

for all the gifts He had given to Rich.

On the day of his baptism

December 16, 1934, 

God gave Richard his first shipment of grace.

Through His cross and empty tomb,
Jesus poured grace into Rich.

God gave gifts that Rich eventually would 

discover, unwrap, and use:
forgiveness, faith, love, wisdom, and 
an ability to use Apple Computers, 
before they were even invented.

Eighty-three years later, on the day of his funeral
the stories that were told highlighted that

 Richard T Hinz 
not only was
"served with grace"
he also

 "served with grace." 

Rich had many vocations 
that became laboratories of learning.
He was Husband and Dad 

Grandpa and Great-Grandpa,

Theologian, Scholar, Teacher, Pastor

Mission Executive, District President/Bishop.

 My life intersected with Rich's in 1988-

as a whipper-snapper-33-year-old pastor.  

I had accepted the call to serve as 

Associate Pastor at Prince of Peace. 

Soon after I discovered 

President Rich and Deanna Hinz
 were also Prince of Peace-ers.  

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Springfield, VA

My servant-leader lessons began soon after. 

President Hinz surprised me when I attended my first 

Southeastern District (SED) Conference.

My bishop introduced me 

to hundreds of seasoned pastors saying:

"Let me introduce you to my pastor, John Denninger."

He could have said, 

"This is John, the new Associate Pastor at Prince of Peace," 

but he said -- I was his pastor.  

While Rich may have not even thought about it, 
I still remember his words and how it made me feel.

John Denninger and President Richard Hinz at a Professional Church Work Conference in the early 90s. 

Over the following six years 
as I served at Prince of Peace,
there were numerous opportunities to 
watch President Hinz from a distance. 
Looking back, it seems now as if the Lord arranged 
this servant-leadership curriculum just for me.  

Rich's favorite Bible passage 
had to have been Mark 10:42-45.  
 I saw it put in action-- and it changed my life.

In 1994, Parkinson's sidelined Rich

 from serving as a District President. 

He accepted the call to serve at Prince of Peace

and began wearing the same title as me:

Associate Pastor. 

It seemed incarnational.

The District President 

was coming down

in the flesh,

to be an Associate Pastor like me.

Years came and went.
Richard's Parkinsons 
slowly whittled his abilities away
leaving Rich homebound, 
while being cared for 
by the love of his life, Deanna. 
She put Mark 10 in motion.  

In June, 2012, the SED Convention 
had just elected me to serve
as District President.
It was humbling to receive 
this unexpected affirmation.  
 A few days later, Connie and I 
stopped in at the Hinz's for a visit.
 I peppered Rich with questions:
"What do I need to know to serve in this role? 
How do I prepare myself?
What do I need to do?
With difficulty Rich slowly stood up,
shuffled to his library, searched and found
 two books that he put in my hands.  
Both books are authored by Robert K. Greenleaf:
Servant Leadership
&
On Becoming a Servant Leader.
"Here read these," Rich said.
Rich was a man of few words
 but I got the message loud and clear.

Greenleaf defined a servant leader 
with these two questions:
 Do those served grow as persons? 
Do they, while being served, 
become healthier, wiser, freer, 
more autonomous, 
more likely themselves to become servants? 

Here, President Emeritus Richard Hinz 

presents a red stole for my 
Installation as District President.

God used Rich to send me

lots of shipments of His love.

Richard T Hinz -

"served with grace."

  

The Hospitality of El Shaddai

Both signs 

silently spoke their welcome with 

those ubiquitous church sign words:

"WE WELCOME YOU."

I chose door #1.
Locked!

Then, I chose front door #2

Locked!

I finally chose door #3

and it was opened unto me.  

Even though their church doors were locked
I appreciate the people of 

Trinity Episcopal Church

who opened the doors of their hearts to allow 

this little Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship

 find a place to plant their new congregation.

El Shaddai: a Hebrew name for God often translated:  God Almighty

I truly was welcomed

by the people of one of our soon-to-be chartered 
Southeastern District Congregations:
El Shaddai  

(translated:  God Almighty).

Pastor Gemechis and Evangelist Wasihun

Meet Pastor Gemechis and Evangelist Wasihun, 

Both pastors have teamed up to lead 

this seedling congregation.  
They are both preparing 
the applications to become 
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod Pastors
through a process called colloquy.  

El Shaddai people worshiping Jesus

They welcomed me in their worship.
The Holy Spirit translated 
their Oromo and my English into
 praise for our King Jesus!
Then I had the opportunity to pray over their children,

Three little PKs (pastors' kids) 

and have fellowship following the worship service

enjoying Ethiopian bread and coffee (of course).

El Shaddai worshiping community on Sunday, August 26, 2018

I was welcomed 
by brothers and sisters in Jesus 
and there were 
no locked doors!
One day soon,
 I look forward to the moment 
we can all welcome 
El Shaddai Lutheran Mission
as a member church of the 
Southeastern District -LCMS.
May we all learn to unlock our doors,
and practice hospitality.

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, 
for by do doing some people 
have entertained angels 
without knowing it."
Hebrews 13:2

5:17

5:17AM

I took the screen shot below 

 at Midway Field, Chicago

as my phone alarm went off while

I stood in line at Dunkin Doughnuts

at 5:17 AM.

Yep, a delayed flight caused me 

to miss a connection the night before, 

so I got to stay overnight 

in Chicago and fly out early.

That's why I was standing in line 

at 5:17 AM this morning.

I'm sharing my Dunkin Doughnut story with you
because I'm getting ready to ask you 
make a commitment to set your alarm 
for either 5:17AM or PM 
for the next 30 days.

I think I hear you asking,

"Why should I set my alarm for 5:17?

I'm looking for people in the Southeastern District 

of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod 
(and beyond)

who will band together 

to pray a bold prayer of faith for 
the people living next door to us in our neighborhoods. 

Specifically, I'm asking you to make a commitment 

to pray once a day (5:17AM or PM) 
to the Lord of the Church.
We are praying that 
by our May 2021 District Convention 
our 216 congregations will have the joy of
welcoming 50 new chartered congregations
into our fellowship.  

Why 50?

Through our neighborhood ministry outreach 

we hope to have ministry activity in 

500 new neighborhoods across the SED

over the next three years.

We are praying that 10% 
of the 500 new neighborhood ministries 

will become new church plants. 

But why pray at 5:17?  

It was in I Thessalonians 5:17 

that Paul encouraged the people to:

"pray without ceasing."

Some translations say: "pray continuously."

Here's what he said: 

So set your alarms and join us 

as we pray for 50 new church plants.

At least try it for the next 30 days.  

I'm hope that our Lord Jesus 
receives these prayers so frequently and so continuously 
that He says to His Father,

"It's them again in the SED." 

Welcoming New Southeastern District Team Members

On Monday, August 20, 2018 

the sign on the 

Southeastern District Office door greeted

Mark, Michelle, Taylor, and Kirk 

(Kirk, will arrive next week).

We are giving thanks to God 

for leading each of them to our team.

While this sign welcomes each of them 

to the crew that works inside the SED Office,  

 it's also a welcome to them 

from the entire kingdom team:

216 congregations,

89 schools &

30 missions spread across

SE Pennsylvania, 

Delaware

Maryland

Virginia

Washington DC

North and South Carolina.

After devotions and orientation
SED Staff Members 
took a "walk" to 

"The Magic Wok", 
a Chinese restaurant

just down the street from the District Office.  

There a few of us 

had the opportunity to enjoy lunch together with:

Ms. Michelle Guilfoil,

Business Administrator,

Ms. Taylor Marie Holmes

Data & Special Events Facilitator, &

Rev. Dr. Mark Schroeder

Southern Region Facilitator for Mission Engagement.

Of course, Fortune Cookies were shared

and like it always happens, 

we each read our fortune.

I broke my Chinese Fortune cookie in half 
and read these words: 

Much as I'd like to claim them for myself, 
these words really are all about Jesus. 

Remember what Isaiah foretold about Jesus?
"The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him--

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and of power,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."  Isaiah 11:2

As we say good-bye to some very special teammates 
and as God send us new helpers
we recognize how the Lord Jesus,
The Wisdom of Ages
has an amazing plan for each one of us.
He moves us this way and that 
according to His love and His great design.

Then, I remembered this favorite hymn.

Welcome Michelle, Taylor, Mark & Kirk!

Welcome to the SED - Rev. Joshua and Sammy Rusert

 Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Bethesda, MD

opened their arms to welcome

their new pastor:

Pastor Joshua Rusert and Samantha (Sammy) 

Sunday, August 19, 2018.

Pastor and Mrs. Joshua and Sammy Rusert

 Church workers often have unique stories 

of the way in which the Holy Spirit 

whisks them this way and that 

to do His Kingdom work.  

Josh and Sammy have one of those stories, too. 

Sammy got a promotion working 

for Homeland Security 

while still in Wisconsin.

She was recruited to a new position 

in Washington DC.

Josh decided it would get a little lonely 

in Wisconsin without Sammy 

where he was serving as 

Associate Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, 

Mequon, Wisconsin. 

He resigned his call and 

followed Sammy to DC, 

He made himself available for a call 

to serve as a pastor 

somewhere in the Washington DC area.

The Holy Spirit whispered into 

the hearts of the people of 

Pilgrim Lutheran Church and...

they called him as their pastor.  

Pastor Andy Lissy, Pastor Joshua Rusert, Vicar Nils Niemeier

 But there's more to the story.

We already knew something about Joshua Rusert

because we met him a few years back.

Joshua served his vicarage (internship year) 

at Living Savior Lutheran Church,

Fairfax Station, VA.  

His pastoral supervisor, Pastor Andy Lissy, 

preached at the Installation Service today.  

Joshua was Living Savior's first vicar seven years ago.  

Vicar Nils Niemeier has just been placed as their new vicar.

The people of Pilgrim Lutheran Church are 

excited to begin a new era with their new Pastor.

We welcome Pastor Joshua and Sammy Rusert.

Kingdom Lessons - Blessing Our Children

 On Sunday, June 10, 2018, 

I accompanied four LCMS pastors as we

worshiped at this amazing church:  

Tabor Mekane Yesus Church.

Awassa, Ethiopia.

The sanctuary was closed for roof repair.

So worshippers gathered in another space, 

adjacent to an even larger outdoor sanctuary,  

where thousands participated in worship.

On a normal Sunday, 7000 people 

come to worship Jesus in one worship service.

But that's not what amazed me that day . . .

Children praying at Tabor Mekane Yesus Church,
Awassa, Ethiopia
Like many of our churches,
there was a special time for children
who eagerly came running
 to surround their pastor.

Some were sitting, others standing,
and still others splayed out on the floor.

But then something different happened.
Rather than a children's sermon,
the pastor invited the congregation to
bless the children.

I heard the beautiful cacophony of people praying.
Each offering prayers for these little lambs
with their own words and expressions. 
Children who normally would have been 
fidgety and out of control
easily took on their own postures of prayer.  

And I wondered -
what impact the weekly blessing time
might have on the trajectory of a little life.

What might happen to a church
that took time to bless their children?

Blessed in Our Most UnBlessed Moments

A beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee

 on a rolling hillside

possibly the site of 

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

The Mount of Beatitudes 

A visit to church on All Saint's Day celebration
and it's likely we will hear Jesus' words:
"Blessed are you when. . ." (Matthew 5:1-12)

But whenever I am that one to whom He speaks
finding me when I'm:
poor in my spirit,
hungering and thirsting after righteousness . . .
feeling guilty,
mourning my loss,
feeling a little persecuted
I don't feel too blessed . . . until
I remember

Jesus is standing in front of those unblessed ones.
And just like that . . .
He meets me at the intersection of
my unblessed moment -- and with
Kingly presence and life-changing Word  
He recreates
 baffling badness into
 kingdom blessedness.

And only later I realize:
I've was blessed!