A native of York, Pa., he was an Air Force navigator in World War II and a graduate of Virginia Tech in 1947. After working as vice president of a Richmond mechanical contracting firm, he graduated from Gettysburg Seminary in 1967 and joined the Synod staff. He was responsible for several managing groups, including outdoor ministries and parish life development, for a convocation on congregational concerns, the annual synod convention and managing the Church House, headquarters in Roanoke. Charlie was often called upon to mediate congregational conflicts. His calm, gentle and soft-spoken demeanor very often brought about reconciliation between opposing sides. After retirement, he was administrator of College Lutheran, Salem, for several years.

            Surviving are his wife, Peggy Shenberger, and two daughters, Anne Shenberger, Philadelphia, Pa., and Susan Shenberger, Salem.

            A memorial service will be held later. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials may be made to Lutheran Family Services, College Lutheran Church or Good Samaritan Hospice.

            Dr. Jill Y. Crainshaw, acting dean at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, will lead the 2019 ACTS spring course on "Spirituality and Leadership" April 6 and May 11. The course will be offered at Grace, Waynesboro, and simulcast to Holy Trinity, Wytheville, and Gloria Dei, Hampton.

            Crainshaw was the leader for the synod's annual Ministerium Gathering at Virginia Beach last October. An ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she is a graduate of Wake Forest and earned a doctorate at Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education. She emphasizes in her writing and teaching how Christian worship and leadership arise from and return to human experience.

            The registration fee for the course is $175. Discounts are available. The required textbooks for the course are "When I in Awesome Wonder: Liturgy Distilled from Daily Life," by Crainshaw and "An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith," by Barbara Brown .

        St. Paul's, Jerome, plans to open a blessing box in March, according to Pastor Jeff May. A carpenter member is building a small cabinet to hold non-perishable food and household items and people in the community will be invited to "Take what they need " and "Leave what they can."

            Flyers and banners will be circulated to explain the box and the appropriate items to stock it for people in need.

            The office at Caroline Furnace Camp and Retreat Center is buzzing with activity and its team is working daily to embody the summer 2019 theme of "Transforming Community." Two of the big changes for 2019 are a new staff dynamic and a new retreat policy.

    

Pastor Heidi David-Young, with her husband, Pastor David Young

        The Rev. Heidi David-Young has begun work in a new role as director of resource and program development. Dolly Woodward has retired as office manager and director of retreats.

            What does this mean? The small dedicated team of year-round staff at Caroline Furnace can be more mobile and better serve their communities and new user groups. They are looking into new, creative ways to expand upon their statement of "All are welcome," to include retreat season family camps, writing and song-writing retreats, young adult retreats, community-based events, outdoor education and Budddies in Christ special needs camp.

            David-Young is guiding their direction to become a leading resource for three synods---Virginia, Metropolitan Washington and West Virginia-Western Maryland---beginning with pre-Lenten and Advent retreats at Buttonwood Lodge this year. Julie Kroll, sales, marketing and communictions director, is focused on identifying new user groups and continuing to build marketing and communications. Tom Powell, executive director, has vision and leadership invaluable to the growth of the organization in his first year of leadership.

            Together, the three book retreats and split retreat host duties, in order to keep coordination more streamlined for both guests and staff. The goal is to improve upon the overall guest experience. It has been a busy start to the year at Caroline Furnace. Spring weekends are nearly booked with 40 retreats planned for the first six months. Summer camp registrations are rolling in and summer staff interviews have begun. 2019 is shaping up to be an exciting year of growth and opportunity for Caroline Furnace so be sure to get your community involved.  

          Pastors Katie Freund and Melissa May have been ordained and Rebecca Wicker will be ordained on Feb. 5.

            Freund, former vicar with her husband, Pastor Patrick Freund, in the North Mountain Parish in Shenandoah County, was called to serve at St. Matthew's and St. Mark's in the Quicksburg Parish.

            May was ordained Dec. 14 at Muhlenberg, Harrisonburg, after she accepted a called to Our Saviour, Nome, Alaska, starting Jan. 1. Bishop Shelley Wickstrom of the Alaska Synod was assisted by Bishop Bob

	New Pastor Melissa May (center) was surrounded by her family at her ordination

Humphrey in the service. Her father, Pastor Jeff May of St. Paul, Jerome, was a sponsor. She formerly served in a mission in Canada and as a vicar in the Walker Mountain Parish, Wythe County.

            Wicker, formerly a vicar at Christ, Radford, will be ordained at Good Shepherd Lutheran, Walterboro, SC, on Feb. 5. She was called to St. Matthew's Lutheran, Charleston, SC.  

 

                                                                                                                            

            The Auxiliary spent $8,000 to support music therapy; $5,000 for a medical manikin and staff training at the Carilion Center for Simulation, Research and Patient Safety; almost $3,500 for an automatic door to the courtyard; over $4,000 for music and $2,400 for Star for a Day, a fun program for the rehab center. Almost $3,500 was used to build planter boxes for vegetables planted by residents $3,500 was spent on monthly celebrations, with music, food and themed festivities in memory care.

            The Auxiliiary raised these funds through a golf tournament, raising over

$18,000; a Bazaar providing over $8,000; fall and spring boutiques, bringing almost $4,000 and donations of over $1,000 and memberships, collecting $340.

            Olive Thomas, Auxiliary treasurer, told members, "Every time you participate in Auxiliary fund-raisers, "you helped to do all these great things."

            Five members of the Grace and Glory congregation gathered on 1-22-19 quite early to head to Richmond to participate with the Day for All People lobbying day sponsored by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. This annual event draws individuals from all over the state who are representing a variety of different faith groups to work to influence our legislators on issues that have been determined to have some impact on the "least of these."

 

	Participants discuss legislation

          This year we were again dealing with immigration issues, employment issues such as wage theft and wage justice, and Environmental Justice. Perhaps the key issue affecting faith communities was a bill (SB 1024) which would repeal a previous law which banned the carrying of weapons into places of worship.

            This year's event was held at the Centenary United Methodist Church, which is a Reconciling Ministries Congregation declaring equal rights for all to include those individuals who are affiliated with the LGTBQ community. The congregation was begun at the turn of the 19th century and the current church building was constructed in 1843. We had a crowd of about 250 people of faith, which is less than we've had in previous years.

            After being at the capitol and speaking with our various representatives, we returned to the home site for a box lunch and broke into various community groups for discussion of activities taking place in different regional chapters of VICPP around the state. The closing was a speech by the Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax.

             It was a good day, and Director Kim Bobo indicated that in talking with various legislators that they were impressed with the treatment they received and decorum offered by those in the VICPP group. It is hoped that more people next year might realize the importance of the work that we do for this one day.

            A biblical story-teller, Carr will share parables and other stories for the gathering. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Navy veteran and graduate of the College of William and Mary, Carr served Salem, Mt. Sidney, before he was called to Christ the King four years ago.

           

	Freund

Chaplain for the gathering will be Pastor Patrick Freund of the North Mountain Parish, consisting of St. Stephen and St. Matthew-Mount Olive, and St. Peter, Toms Brook. The musician will be Pastor Chris Wondree, interim campus minister at James Madison University.

            The men will have a chance to learn at least one Bible story by heart, "allowing God's word to get under our skin and work on us in a deeper way as we internalize it and carry it home," Carr said. The gathering also will feature Bible study, small group discussions and fellowship.

            Registration will be $160 for a double room and $185 for a single in the two-day event.

            I've been thinking a lot about time. Time is the fourth dimension, or so physicists say, I confess that I've listened to scientific explanations of time and have not yet grasped some of the scientific complexities. Well, actually, I do not grasp any of time's complexities!

            We have just taken a deep breath after the busyness of preparing for and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Now, it is the New Year and even if we do not make resolutions, we have set goals and expectations for the year ahead. We have a plan! It may be a plan for one day or one year but we have in mind things to do or accomplish in our days ahead.

            The aspect of this that has been on my mind is our time and how we measure it. On the Gregorian calendar, Jan. 1 is the start of a new year. (The Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582 and named after Pope Gregory XIII.) If you ask a teacher when the start of the new year is, you most likely will hear it begins after Labor Day, when school starts. Church leaders will tell that the first Sunday in Advent begins the new year.

            How we mark time is subjective. We mark the passing of time by the number of birthdays we have had or by what grade our children or grandchildren are in. We measure how much time it is until an appointment or a wedding. The older we get, the faster time goes. We "kill" time and "waste" time. We "spend" time. Time is something that we can never get back once it is gone.

            As opposed to chronos, kairos is God's time. Chronos is measured by our human imposed delineations. We measure it on calendars and by ticking clocks. Kairos is not measured as such, but rather is filled with God's presence and grace. One well-known reference to Kairos is expressed in Ecclesiastes. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted. (3:1-8)

            How much time do we spend trying to make things happen on our chronos time when really these things belong to God's Kairos time? We trick ourselves into thinking that we are in charge of everything. Tying ourselves to our schedules and our calendars, do we leave room to be open to God's activity in our lives? Are we so distracted by what we have planned that we miss the fullness and blessings of each moment that God gives us? Will you have time to open God's unexpected gifts?

            God's presence is in the miracle of new life and in days of dying. Emmanuel, which means "God is with us," is born! In coming to us in the flesh, God promises that neither life nor death, nor things present, nor things to come will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Romans 8:38a). All our moments are holy.

            My prayer for this year is that we be open to God's presence in each moment. Most times, God does not grab us by the collar and shake us. Being aware of God's presence in our life comes with intention. One way to do that is to keep a gratitude journal. Write down three things for which you are grateful. Do it every day. Recently, I heard of a different way to encourage us to be aware of God's working in our lives. Begin as many sentences as you can with"Thank you." This is especially helpful when we are frustrated or angry.

         Three new dean appointments were announced by Bishop Bob Humphrey.

            Pastor Katie Pocalyko, Our Saviour, Richmond, was named dean of the Richmond Conference, following Pastor Lou Florio, formerly at Messiah, Mechanicsville.

            Pastor Karen Van Stee, St. Mary Pine, Mt. Jackson, succeeds Pastor Nathan Robinson, Emanuel, Woodstock, as dean of Central Valley Conference. 

            Pastor Michael Church, Our Saviour, Warrenton, follows Pastor Sandy Wisco, retired, at Germanna Conference.