ABOUT US
Interim Pastor
Jeff Bunke

MISSION STATEMENT
Welcome and serve all people with the hope that every person may come to believe in Christ's promise of eternal life.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Teach and learn confidently.
Heal lovingly.
Inspire others patiently.
Serve prayerfully.
MISSION SUPPORT
Genacross Lutheran Services
Luther Home of Mercy
Lutheran Camps in Ohio
Lutheran Socail Services of NW Ohio
JOIN US IN WELCOMING OUR INTERIM PASTOR

Pastor Jeff Bunke
Greetings to the Church in your home!
I'm writing a quick note to say, "Hey, there!" and "Thank you for opening your hearts and lives (and congregation) for this new chapter in all of our lives!" While I'm beginning a soft start at Messiah these last weeks of February, we'll officially begin our journey in March. I'm looking forward to getting to know you and Messiah's ways of being and doing. Here are a few notes about this character who will be appearing in your congregations life.
Born into a German-speaking Henry County dairy farming family, I was raised in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. Following graduation from Valparaiso University, my (Napoleopn) high school sweetheart, Kay, and I married - and shortly thereafter found our way
into the Episcopal Church, where I served as an organist/choirmaster. Off we went to Chicagoland and seminary, with ordination coming in 1981 at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland. We served parishes in Maumee (St. Paul's), Cuyahoga Falls (St. Johns), Port Orange, FL (Grace), West Chester, OH (St. Anne's), and Perrysburg (St. Timothy's), prior to retirement at the end of 2021. Our "forever home" was purchase last August in Maumee. Kay is a retired cardiac nurse and non-medical home-care coordinator. She remains active in St. Timothy's Clothesline ministries and the Mitten Mission at St. Tim's. Our three adult children live in widely-separated parts of this country. Our passions include our kids, landscaping/gardening, music in varied forms, and getting reacquainted with home ownership after eight years in a church-owned rectory.
Forty years of ordained ministry provided lots of varied experience. The pandemic years provided oppurtunity to obtain Interim Ministry training - which will be put to work as we travel the nect year together. While the Lutheran call process indentifies five basic developmental tasks, I like to think of them as 3 questions, "Who are we?" "Who are our neighbors?" and "Who/what is God calling us to be (and do)?" I think of my call as an interim pastor as helping you to work through those questions together, while providing pastoral care, worship leadership, and program resourcing.
Shalom,
Jeff Bunke
Staff & Volunteers

Leigh B.
Cantor

Linda S.
Volunteer Bookkeeper

Diana S.
Office Assistant
Church Council
.jpg)
President
Jim K
.jpg)
Secretary
Patty K.
.jpg)
Vice President
Chris L.

Treasurer
Marla J.
.jpg)
Debbie B.
.jpg)
Daniel B.

Roger U.
.jpg)
Sharon B.
.jpg)
Mike R.
Parking
Building
Entrance &
Elevator
