June 2026 A Time for Conventions, Conferences, and Celebrations!!

June 2026 started with the chance for my wife and I to have a quick visit with our son Josh in Nanaimo. As we headed to the ferry, I was able to tune into our online staff meeting. It was good to see everyone and hear some updates. We headed back home after our visit and I spent some time in my home office. The plans for summer trips are coming together nicely. On that first Sunday in June, my wife and I helped out with music for the church service at Hillside Community Church. Pastor Ian W is on sabbatical with his family for retired pastor Craig T led the service. It was Confirmation Sunday and it was fun to see the three young men confirm their Christian faith during the service. I taught confirmation classes for many years and this brought back some happy memories. Here's the link if you'd like to see and hear the service.

I try to visit my LAMP communities 2 - 3 times a year in addition to summer trips. June allowed some time to do a few of those as well...though I wasn't able to get everywhere I wanted to go. I flew into Winnipeg and then drove to The Pas, Manitoba. I was able to stay there and organize visits to the LAMP communities of Moose Lake and Cormorant. From there I drove to Flin Flon, Manitoba as I was hoping to meet our LAMP pilot Andrew there and do some flying north. As sometimes happens, the weather was not good for flying so we were not able to do the flights. After Flin Flon, I headed to Ashern, stopping in the LAMP communities of Easterville and Grand Rapids on the way. I drove back down to Winnipeg for the Lutheran Church - Canada Synod Convention there. Here are some pictures from my visits...



The convention was a busy time for me. I was attending the event as a diaconal delegate for the West Region (I've been a rostered deacon - DPS in Lutheran Church - Canada since 2000) and I was also asked to serve on Resolutions Committee 2. We had a fairly full docket of resolutions to process and then present to the convention. This convention represented a time of transition as our Synod President Timothy Teuscher wrapped up his years of service and some new leaders were elected. Pastor David Haberstock was elected as our new Synod President, Pastor Michael Schutz was elected as our new West Regional Pastor, Pastor Arron Gust was elected as our Central Regional Pastor, and Pastor Ted Giese was elected as our Synod vice president. East Regional Pastor Marvin Bublitz was re-elected and will continue to serve. Numerous people (pastors and lay people) were also elected to serve on various committees across the synod as well. The convention featured some great presentations and lots of reports. Pastor Randy H from LAMP and his wife Darlene hosted our LAMP exhibit booth, connecting with lots of folks. Here's a few pictures from the convention...




At one point during the convention, we had a time of memorial for those church workers who had died since the last convention. Margaret Towriss was a special friend for me and I appreciated seeing her photo at the memorial.

At the end of June it was my turn to run a LAMP exhibit booth at the West Region IMPACT youth gathering. We met at Pines Bible Camp just outside of Grand Forks, BC for a few days of worship, teaching, fun, and fellowship. I brought along some paper for paper airplanes and also a pattern for a LAMP plane from cardstock that the youth and the adults could build. Here's some pictures of Pastor Jacob Quast, Lutheran Church - Canada's Director of Domestic Missions. As you can see, he's got some serious skills.

Here are some other photos of some of the sessions and also the exhibit booth. It was wonderful to connect with the youth and youth leaders at the event.





June also featured some special family moments. One of the major highlights was the 65th wedding anniversary (!) of my in-laws Lionel and Lucille C. Their anniversary is in July but it worked better for us to meet and gather and celebrate in late June. We had some wonderful times together celebrating with them. Here's a picture of the special couple. 


As I write this, I am in Winnipeg overnight and getting ready to drive north tomorrow to visit my first LAMP team for the summer. Your prayers for safe travels and good VBS events are always appreciated!!




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