(from Deac Lisa Polito) "Remembering in prayer our friends in the Deaconess community of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Diaconal Ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada at the death of Sr. Ginger Patchen* who belong to both of those communities. Also for the Deaconess community at the death of Sr. Bernice Peterson**. Well done, good and faithful servants".
At times like this, I am always reminded of Hebrews 11 and the great roll of those who acted in faith. It ends with this:
39-40 (The Message) Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
that their faith and our faith.....would come together to make one completed whole.....their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.....
Our lives of faith and service are integrally connected with our spiritual ancestors and those who who been faithful to the call of God on their lives. And, as we celebrate and honour those who have lived among us and with us - pioneers and witnesses to the faith in word and witness and service - so we continue in our work and witness and service, their lives an example set before us.
And our lives an example to those who will follow us......
(*Sister Ginger Patchen, although born in the United States spent most of her ministry in Canada as a pre-school educator. She was Head of the Epiphany Children’s Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba from 1976. Sister Ginger was invested as a Deaconess April 1, 1973 and consecrated as an LCA deaconess July 17, 1977. She held degrees in social work, psychology and mental health and completed Graduate Studies in Religion. Source: An Undefinitive History of the Lutheran Canadian Diaconal Ministry: A Work in Progress by Judy Whaley)
(**Sister Bernice Peterson, 1918-2013, was a deaconess with the Grace Lutheran Church. She was born in Colorado Springs in 1918. The family homesteaded in Ellicott, CO during the late 1800's. Her family was among the founders of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church. They later moved to Colorado Springs where they helped found Bethany Lutheran Church, which later merged with Grace Lutheran Church.Source: Legacy.com)
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