bethel lutheran | Special service

bethel lutheran | Special service

Bethel Lutheran Church, 425 Crestview Drive, Boardman, plans a special service Sunday to honor the ordinations of pastors affiliated with the congregation. Bill Conkey, congregation president, said the event celebrates the commitment that pastors make. “The congregation felt that ordination is a big moment,” Conkey said. “We wanted to do something out of respect and to honor them.”

Service: 10 a.m. Sunday at the church with a lunch following. Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Northeast Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Luthern Church in America will conduct the service.

To be recognized: Pastor Bret Rizzo, who was ordained June 16, 1991; Pastor Paul Burgeson, ordained May 23, 1966; Pastor Wayne Niemi, ordained June 8, 1953; Pastor Chuck Lundquist, ordained June 20, 1954; and Jon Weaver, a church member, to be ordained Sept.10. Pastor Rizzo is the current Bethel pastor.

Rally Day: The event Sept. 11 will include a church picnic and block party starting with a service at 11 a.m.

In general: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to which the pastors belong, was formed in 1988 as a result of a merger among three Lutheran synods — ALC (American Lutheran Church), LCA (Lutheran Church in America) and AELC (Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches). Five linguistic groups make up the ELCA — Danes, Finns, Germans, Norwegians and Swedes — and numerous smaller groups contribute to its diversity. Lutherans number about 70 million worldwide.