During the COVID-19 pandemic, communities across Indiana and Kentucky saw significant increases in suicides and other mental health challenges. Some of the congregations in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, including Christ the King Lutheran Church in South Bend, IN, took practical steps to help those struggling with mental health issues.
Alice and Dave have been active in Lutheran and Episcopal settings in many capacities for as long as they can remember. Alice surveyed for new church start locations in Indiana, Michigan, and the Carolinas as a college student in an ELCA predecessor, the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA). Meanwhile, Dave shared his fiscal management experience in Episcopal circles.
On the night of December 10, 2021, Pastor Colleen Winkler’s daughter and son-in-law told her it was time to move to the basement due to a tornado warning. Colleen was trying to lead her tired husband, who had just been diagnosed that day with Covid-19, downstairs when she noticed the patio doors rattling back and forth. She now wonders if that might have been the time the tornado was passing through.
Hannah Limbong, a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, is musical, leads well, has a willing spirit, and an infectious smile. As a first-year student in high school, Hannah was feeling a bit lost and wasn’t really sure about her purpose in life. She was searching.
Kelli Smith has been deeply involved in her congregation, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Muncie, Indiana, all her life. Her experiences at camp – Lutheran Hills, Lutherwald, and Lake Luther, all part of Lutheran Outdoor Ministries, Indiana-Kentucky (LOMIK) – form a centerpiece of her faith journey.
Deacon Barb Limbach recalls that when their church, Resurrection Lutheran in Ft. Wayne, IN, first moved to their current location, they were “in the middle of a cornfield.” The area was hit by rapid growth, and now within a mile radius of the church’s new location around 900 new homes are expected to be built.
