River City Renewal

Comments from Clint Gehring, who gave the testimonty at
the revival service at our church, regarding his experience at the three revival services. I pass them on to you so that you can use the comments
in whatever way you feel appropriate. Attached you'll find three pictures of the service at St. Timothy's that you can use with the article. Thanks. Fred

I take this opportunity to thank Pastor Love and the entire
Renewal/Revival Team for their spirit and effort which they have put into developing and organizing these worship services. I am a member of St. Timothy's Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska. St. Timothy's, Morningstar Lutheran and First Lutheran partnered together to provide three great worship opportunities and spiritual experiences during the October River City Renewal/Revival in Omaha.

I personally was spiritually moved and renewed during each of these three services and I received prayer for healing of cancer. I know that many other folks also were moved and renewed. My prayer is that this
conference is only a beginning of greater things to happen in the future here in our Omaha Lutheran community. I especially appreciated the emphasis given to the equal partnership/relationship of God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. A much better understanding, believing and practicing this equality is vitally important to our personal, spiritual and Lutheran faith as we grow and mature in our
faith walk with God.
There are five areas that I really appreciated during these worship services:

1. The variety of music and the importance of singing and expression given to our worship experience.
2. Introducing and incorporating personal testimonies into our worship.
3. A good variety of preaching and teaching of God's word.
4. Making individual prayer accessible to all worshipers via the prayer stations.
5. Showing and demonstrating the unity we share in Christ within the great diversity of the
    Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts and
appreciation to the entire ELCA, for taking this very important step to
better equipping the saints for His service.

In His Peace and Love,
Clint Gehring

U. Fred Landsberg, Senior Pastor
St. Timothy's Lutheran Church
510 N. 93 Street
Omaha, NE 68114

Is Lutheran Revival An Oxymoron?   
“A ‘revival’ at St. Timothy’s?” one neighbor was overheard to say. 
“That doesn’t seem like something St. Timothy’s would do!”  “I hope it’s not weird,” said one long time St Tim’s member. We don’t want to be associated with anything weird.”  Testimonials!  “AMENS!” Hand waving!  Foot stomping!  Laying on of hands! Alleluias!  At a Lutheran church?  What is going on??? Read more. 

Revivalist and Leadership Network Team member keynote at the Southern Ohio Synod.

Evaluation of Pr. Ernie Hinojosa regarding his presentation to the Southern
Ohio Synod Assembly, June 1, 2007.

Pastor Ernie Hinojosa's spirit-led presentation to the 2007 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly was the high point of the gathering. The attendees were
mesmerized by Pastor Ernie's stories of his walk with God and the amazing work his church is doing in San Antonio.

The presence of the Lord was strongly felt by all as Pastor Ernie opened hearts and minds to our role as Christians and ambassadors of Christ. I have been asked by numerous attendees for copies of Pastor Ernie's presentation as they want to share it with their pastors and/or congregations. Pastor Ernie's testimony has sparked a flood of ideas regarding outreach to the unchurched, unloved and forgotten.

Ernie was so patient when we had to push back his presentation until later in the day due to floor discussions on issues before the assembly. He was cheerful, kind and appreciative, even of the little we were able to do for him on our tight budget. Pastor Ernie is an excellent representative of the
ELCA and the Christian Church.

New York Revival
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Valatie, NY
Click to view Power Point Presentation
St. Luke's Lutheran Church
Valatie, New York

"Could we hold a revival this summer?" was the question asked of the Rev. James Slater by Tom Pavelek of St. Luke's in Valatie and Duane Keeler of Emanuel in Stuyvesant Falls, the two congregations served by Pastor Slater. They had met at a rest stop on the New York State Thruway driving home from the annual June assembly of the Upstate New York Synod held in Rochester. The focus of the synod assembly had been on evangelism and inspiration of faith with Rev. Tony Campolo as the keynote speaker and Rev. Kathryn Love as the ELCA representative. "We could ask Rev. Love to be our evangelist for the event!"
     Thus the seed was planted for what would become "Seasons of Renewal 2006," a tent revival held at St. Luke's in Valatie and sponsored by the two congregations of the parish on August 11 and 12. A planning committee went quickly to work at renting a tent and brainstorming a list of participants for the event. The workbook, "Renewing the Passion: a guide to spiritual renewal," provided an outline for our planning. The reply of Rev. Kathryn Love to our request was a sincere, "If there will be a revival, I will be there." Immediately there was a desire to make the revival an ecumenical event, but surrounding congregations were slow in responding. Still the intended audience for the revival was to be the members of our own congregations, members and pastors of neighboring congregations and those of our conference, and the unchurched from the highways and byways.
The planning committee consisted of Cathy and Tim McGlauflin and Duane and Phyllis Keeler from the Stuyvesant Falls congregation; Tom and Emily Pavelek, Sharon Smith, Christi Wright, Jackie Bachman, and Christa Slater from the Valatie congregation. So many ideas were shared that it became a two day event, Friday and Saturday evenings from 6pm. to 10pm.
Friday night began with a traditional hymn sing of favorites from the Lutheran Book of Worship and With One Voice, led by the choir from St. Luke's conducted by Edward J. Fiebke, Jr. Then a full worship experience was presented by The King's Clown Troupe from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Clifton Park, NY, a collection of Senior High youth under the direction of Mrs. Georgianna Frasier. A local singer and songwriter, Laura Hawthorne, impressed those in attendance with her beautiful voice and profound testimony. The evening concluded with a program of scripture, prayer and song around a blazing campfire.
     The events on Saturday began with a song, dance and testimonials from "Grandma's Angels," a dozen girls ranging in age from 17 to 3 from a Baptist church in nearby Hudson, NY. A five member bluegrass music band called "Rhubarb" shared some Gospel songs. The bass player in the band, Lynda Garafalo, is a member of the Stuyvesant Falls congregation. A blues singer and acoustical guitar wizard named Rhett Tyler, from Hudson, NY, shared his music and testimony. Then we welcomed back Laura Hawthorne to lead us into the concluding revival worship service. Rev. Kathryn Love was the welcomed evangelist for the service led by Pastor Slater. During the candlelighting recommitment service an anthem was shared by the St. Luke's choir and another song by Laura Hawthorne. Individuals were encouraged to step forward and share their own stories of faith.
     Throughout the weekend designated leaders wore blue stoles to indicate their availability as Prayer Partners. After the testimonies of the revival worship service, many took advantage of their gifts, seeking prayer for situations they were facing.
The congregations of Emanuel and St. Luke's met jointly for Sunday morning worship under the tent and were once again inspired by the preaching of the Rev. Kathryn Love. Pastor Slater was visibly moved when he announced to the gathered worshipers that all the expenses of the revival, none of which had been budgeted by the congregations, had been completely covered by individual contributions so that the entire offerings of the two revival evenings could be donated to the local Hospice agency conducting an AIDS in Africa relief program in the amount of over $800.
    The revival filled the members of our congregations with renewed energy and a deeper commitment to their Lord. Rev. Love's description of a revival as a means of refueling one's faith was appreciated and understood by many. It is our hope and prayer that a neighboring congregation in the Hudson/Mohawk Conference of the Upstate New York Synod will take up the planning and responsibility for a revival next year, for which we will serve as advisors, encouragement and eager participants that the Good News of Jesus may continue to be shared with all the world.