American culture is characterized by the word “busy.” There is never enough time, burnout seems inevitable, and the challenge of developing deep relationships is real. To what good things do we say “no” so we can say “yes” to better things? This is a key element in life-to-life discipleship. The real question is: “What are you going to do about it?” Jesus faced this challenge in even greater ways than we do. Relationships are key not just to ministry, but in life.
The question that stands before us is will we make time to make disciples of our 120 million grandchildren? There are roughly 90 million grandparents in the US and roughly 30 million or more of those grandparents are in our Christian communities. This webinar hosted, by Pastor Tony Ede, will provide some practical advice, resources, and a chance for Q & A with our passionate panelists who have a wide range of experience in the area of grand-parenting and intergenerational ministry.
Join us Tuesday, January 8th at 11 am EST. Pre-registration for this webinar is required. For additional details or to register, please visit: The Academy – January.
Host:
The Rev. Tony Ede graduated from Waldorf College, where he earned an associate of arts in electronic communications and a
bachelor of arts in multimedia communications. Graduating from Luther Seminary in 2006, Tony worked as a graduate teaching assistant in the homiletics department, helping to teach classes on using media and technology in worship and preaching. Pastor Ede has served at Bethany Lutheran Churches in the Danish Village of Kimballton, Iowa; as the teaching pastor at Trinity Lutheran in Webster City, Iowa; and currently serves as the senior pastor at First Evangelical Lutheran in Manchester, Iowa. As part of his commitment to lifelong learning, Tony earned an MBA in 2017 from Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa, with a concentration in organizational development. Following a long family tradition, Tony is a nationally certified firefighter and EMT and has used these skills to serve in the community, as well as in disaster response statewide. Tony was married to LeAnn at Trinity Lutheran Church, New Hampton, Iowa, on August 17th, 2002. They have three sons that keep them busy: Carver, Liam and Burke.
Panelists:
Ray Scheck – retired, Ray and his wife, Joan, have four grown children and eight grandchildren. He served as the Senior Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Damascus, Md., for well over 30 years. The passion of his life is to help people come to know the amazing person of Jesus Christ and to grow as disciples of our Lord. More than 15 years ago, Ray discovered, through The Navigators, how to help the people of Redeemer let God’s Word shape all parts of their lives. He successfully implemented a disciple-making strategy for Redeemer that still guides the ministry of this community. In more recent years, Ray has been involved in mentoring other Lutheran pastors and has passionately taken up the topic of “intentional Christian grand-parenting.”
Gwynne Gonnerman delights in time spent with the precious people in her life. Gwynne became an advocate for herself and others and seeks safe, affirming community to release “ex”periences of abandonment and “re”lease a new life of abandon. She is honored to partner with others to share Jesus’ love, hope, and encouragement to needy children, women, families, and communities through her job as, as well as a national presenter on a variety of topics, including grandparenting as a means of discipleship.
Gary and Laurie Pecuch began a congregational youth and family consultation ministry named faithwebbing.com that originated at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Grove City, Ohio. Gary and Laurie created faithwebbing.com as a result of the contacts they received asking for advice on youth ministry. Their vision is to wrap our children and youth in a web of faith so loving and so caring that they will know Jesus and always want to be a part of a local congregation.