The NALC is committed to the renewal of all our congregations, working to develop and deliver resources that challenge and open the NALC to the work of the Holy Spirit in our ministry and mission.
Bishop John Bradosky writes: “Instead of talking about the process of discipleship, we would like to examine the context of discipleship. What is the nature of Christian community that nurtures people as faithful followers of Jesus, equips them to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus and provides for their growth and development as disciples of Jesus? Following the amazing miracle of Pentecost, Peter’s bold preaching, explaining who Jesus is and what He has done for them and the transformation of more than 3,000 people who came to faith in Jesus we read these important words about the formation of the community that was able to sustain and grow the Church, the body of Christ.”*
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47
Join us for March’s session of The Academy. Pastor Tony Ede will host Pastors Phil Gagnon, Bob Quaintance, and Doug Schoelles on Tuesday, March 3rd at 11:00 AM EST. To register, please visit: The Academy – March 2020. Alternatively, this can be viewed on social media: Facebook Live.
We will continue to take the next steps in the vision Bishop Bradosky laid out for Life-To-Life Discipleship and mission, as well as dive headlong into Acts 2:42-47. The month of March will focus on the key point found in Acts 2:46: “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” Their love and commitment spread from the worship center into their homes. They manifested the love they experienced in Christ through the love they had for one another. Their community was marked with joy and sincerity in their hearts. What are the marks of Christian faith being lived out in our homes? How are parents discipling their children and witnessing to others in their neighborhoods?
Host:
Pastor 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:
Pastor Doug Schoelles serves Concordia Lutheran Church in Kingsburg, California, and as an adjunct faculty member at St. Paul Seminary.
Previously serving at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Keller, Texas, and as an adjunct faculty member at the Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT), Pastor Doug has always had a passion for equipping others to serve in the Name of Jesus. Pastor Doug’s undergraduate work was done at the University of Texas Austin. He graduated from Trinity Lutheran Seminary with an M.Div. in 1992, and pursued a Doctorate of Ministry in Biblical Preaching and Leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary. Pastor Doug’s passion for mission and discipleship has led him to intentional work with youth and family ministry with his dissertation topic: “Equipping Parents To Be Spiritual Leaders.”
Pastor Bob Quaintance graduated from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio and was ordained in 1981. He thoroughly enjoyed serving two different 2-point parishes in South Dakota. And then in 1991, moving to Boardman, Ohio, where his family accepted a call to serve at Good Hope Lutheran Church. At Good Hope, they define a disciple as: “a follower of Jesus who is maturing and multiplying.” Pastor Bob has been very excited and blessed to be a part of the NALC’s Life-To-Life Discipleship Initiative and its original pilot program in Ohio, saying: “our only mission is the Great Commission – to go make disciples.” His wife Nina works at Youngstown State University and serves as one of Good Hope’s organists, but they truly enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren. We love trout fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities, but our greatest passion in life is sharing the love our heavenly Father has for us and for all people.
Pastor Phil Gagnon serves as the Assistant to the Bishop for Domestic Missions and Life-to-Life Discipleship in the North American Lutheran Church. He resides in St. Albert and was pastor of the St. Albert Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, for seventeen and a half years. His first parish was in Golden Valley Lutheran in Viking, Alberta. He is happily married to his most beautiful, patient and mostly correct about everything wife, Patricia and has three children Elise, Elias and Sophie, each in their twenties.
He has taught (2013) at the Onesimus Nesib Seminary on the topic of exorcism and the occult in Aira, Ethiopia, and has been involved in a number of situations concerning cults in the past and present. He also taught World Religions and New Religious Groups at Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute in Camrose, Alberta for nine years.
Pastor Phil was chair of the counter-cult group, Christian Challenge Ministries for three years while he attended The Kings College in Edmonton, Alberta. Since 1989 he has taught seminars on various new religious groups (cults) in Western Canada, California, and Seoul, South Korea. He has also written a book that was well received on evil and exorcism, from a Lutheran perspective, entitled “Deliver Us From Evil.” Pastor Phil participated in an intensive course on the subject in Rome at the Regina Apostolorum April 2015, written other works on new religious groups, including “A Family’s Guide to the Cults: Insights from the Confessions” and a novel entitled, “Where Evil Grows” based upon a true story from his experiences and conversations with a woman involved in a cult group in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Pastor Phil’s hobbies are art and reading, and once upon a time he earned two black belts in Judo and Yoshin Ryu-Jujutsu. He has always been involved in art from an early age from pencil drawings to pen and ink (pointillism) and has in the last few years especially enjoyed watercolour and acrylics. Self taught, he always seeks out opportunities and people to learn from and last year participated in a master watercolour class with Alvaro Castagnet. He paints for the enjoyment and finds rest and peace, found in creating amidst the at times frantic pace of ministry. You’ll find him when he’s able, in his art room at home listening to 80’s music, a sip of Irish whisky at hand and in the rhythm of brush strokes – his “happy place.”
Most recently in the life of the Church, he was Dean of the Canada Mission District for four years, involved in the creation of the constitution of the NALC – Canada Section, and served on the Board of Regents from its inception six years ago.
*To access Bishop Bradosky’s quoted presentations, please visit: https://missions.nalcnetwork.com/nalc-launches-podcast/