Because of the generosity of a donor, The Gritsch & Brobst Memorial Public Lecture is Free and Open to the Public.

These events will be held at Evangelical Lutheran Church (35 E Church St, Frederick, MD 21701 · www.twinspires.org) and parking is available in the Church Street Garage beside the church (17 E Church St, Frederick, MD 21701) for $1 per hour. Limited accessible parking is available on the Evangelical Campus and the Sanctuary and restrooms are accessible.

Pastor Wheeler is the author of US: The Resurrection of American Terror, where he exposes white supremacy as America’s greatest threat. Pastor Wheeler takes readers on his own seven-decade-long journey of being Black in America and offers a deeply vulnerable and piercing portrait of the human toll of white supremacy and points to the Cross as a place of hope and reconciliation.

Pastor Zavaletta (he/they) is the founding pastor of Good Trouble Church. His heritage is a coat of many colors, primarily Tejano, Mexica/Coahuiltecan, Swiss, and Basque. He was the first known transmasculine and nonbinary person of color to be ordained in the ELCA. His call is to place forgotten and rejected peoples into the center and raise up leaders from the margins.

BISHOP’S LEADERSHIP RETREAT

OCTOBER 6-8, 2024

Claggett Center
3035 Buckeystown Pike
Adamstown, MD 21710

This retreat is open to rostered ministers, Members of the Order of St. Stephen, and seminarians serving on internship in our synod.

Registration closes on Thursday, September 26, 2024. Please contact Cindy VanVliet at cvanvliet@demdsynod.org after this date to see if there is availability.

You may pay online or by check. To pay online, simply enter your credit card information at the end of the form and click “Register & pay.” If you would rather pay by check, make sure to note your total cost, use the promo code CHECK, click “Register,” and then mail your payment to:

Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA
ATTN: Cindy VanVliet
5699 Meridale Road
Baltimore, MD 21228

Checks should be made out to “Delaware-Maryland Synod” with “Bishop’s Leadership Retreat” in the memo line and must be mailed in advance of the retreat.

Sunday, October 6

3:30 PM	Public lecture: Pr. Kenneth Wheeler- at Evangelical Lutheran Church (35 E Church St., Frederick)
4:30 PM	Evening Prayer: Pr. Elazar Zavaletta, preaching at Evangelical Lutheran Church (35 E Church St., Frederick)

6:00-8:00 PM	Registration and Check-in
7:45 PM-9:30PM	Welcome and Hospitality

Monday, October 7

8:00 AM	Breakfast
9:00 AM	Preaching Luke’s Gospel, Pr. Kevin Vandiver
10:30 AM	Introductions and Networks
11:00 AM	Eucharist and Installation of Deans
12:15 PM	Lunch
1:30 PM	Preaching Luke’s Gospel, Pr. Kevin Vandiver
3:15 PM	Break
3:30 PM	Preaching Luke’s Gospel, Pr. Kevin Vandiver
5:30 PM	Dinner
6:45 PM	State of the Synod, State of the Church, Report of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church
8:15 PM	Sung Compline
9:00 PM	Hospitality

Tuesday, October 8

8:00 AM	Breakfast
9:00 AM	Check out
9:15 AM	Creative Worship in the Cycle of Luke, Pr. Victoria Larson
11:15 AM	Evaluation
11:45 AM	Closing Devotion
12:15 PM	Lunch

The Rev. Kenneth Wheeler

Pastor Wheeler is the author of US: The Resurrection of American Terror, where he takes readers on his own seven-decade-long journey of being Black in America. From his childhood in Jackson, Mississippi under the trauma of Jim Crow segregation to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, US: The Resurrection of American Terror offers a deeply vulnerable and piercing portrait of the human toll of white supremacy and points to the Cross as a place of hope and reconciliation.

The Rev. Elazar Zavaletta

The Rev. Dr. Kevin Vandiver

Pastor Kevin Vandiver (he/him) is the Senior Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Pastor Kevin attended Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, where he earned a B.A. in Music. After he completed his undergraduate studies, he earned his Master of Divinity from the Duke University Divinity School, where he was a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar.

Pastor Kevin holds a Ph.D. in Practical Theology with a specialty in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was a Princeton Seminary Doctoral Fellow, and a recipient of the prestigious Doctoral (2020) and Dissertation Fellowships (2022) at the Louisville Presbyterian Institute.

Pastor Kevin is married to Dr. Marci Vandiver (she/her), a prolific author, speaker, and tenured professor at Towson University, and they have two children, Ethan and Miles. For fun, Pastor Kevin enjoys reading fantasy and science fiction novels, listening to NPR and other podcasts, being near a body of water somewhere, playing ping pong, and spending time with family.

Pastor Kevin has a passion for the last, lost, and least, and believes that God’s love is lavishly offered as free gift to all.Pastor Kevin has a passion for the last, lost, and least, and believes that God’s love is lavishly offered as free gift to all.

The Rev. Victoria Larson

The Rev. Victoria Larson (she/her/hers) will be our event Chaplain. Pastor Larson is a self-professed liturgy nerd who enjoys creative writing, social dancing, and long walks with her dog Zin and a good podcast on. She is currently studying for a Doctor of Theology degree at Duke Divinity School, focused on Liturgics and empowered by the Holy Spirit and a lot of coffee. Pastor Larson is Gooseherd-in-Chief for Barn Geese Worship. We offer materials to support creative worship and preaching, usually on the texts of the Revised Common Lectionary. We identify arcs that run throughout a season of scriptural readings, and equip you to use them to unite your community’s proclamation, worship, devotions, and study.