Monday Memories--John Stolzenbach

John is retiring and Sunday June 26 will be his last Sunday to preach at Lytham Road campus of UALC where he pastors the two traditional services. When we began attending UALC we met John and Sue in the new member's class. They had started attending at the invitation of his brother Jim (now deceased), and we came because I had attended a women's event at UALC and met a number of women who formerly had been members of the church we were attending. Four couples in that class formed a small group Bible study, and four years later John who was a school teacher when we met him, became a Lutheran pastor. There are several fare-well events for John, and there will be another one on June 26. We attended one on May 26.

John's special gift from the Lord is a Servant's heart for the hurting Servants--like those grieving, divorced, addiction/recovery. He sees the many funerals he does as an opportunity to reach the lost as well as the family. He's also known for his sense of humor. After our daughter's wedding a Jewish friend said, "I don't think I ever had such a good time at a Christian wedding."