One Hundred and Forty Years of Service on Capitol Hill

Bringing the Light of Christ to the Community

As members of Lutheran Church of the Reformation, we are in the midst of celebrating our 140 year history on Capitol Hill and the 75 year anniversary of our sanctuary building.  The 2009 Anniversary Committee has planned a series of events and fellowship activities to further Reformation’s tradition of bringing the light of Christ to our community.  We hope that you will find new venues for spiritual reflection and fellowship that will resonate with your interests and talents, and we encourage you to help us bring the initiatives to fruition. 

Preparations for this anniversary began with the restoration of our stained glass windows, completed earlier this year.  Events that have occurred, are under way, or scheduled are sermons on each of the windows; a women’s luncheon; a special concert with a piece commissioned especially for the anniversary; a music series; a series of guest speakers for our services and adult education programs; an oral history project; a women’s history project; an update of our history; exhibits of historic memorabilia; and a congregational anniversary dinner in the fall.  Our anniversary year will conclude at the beginning of Advent with the hanging of the greens. 

A schedule of events with details will be posted on this web site.

GUEST SPEAKER

 JAN P. LOOKINGBILL

Jan P. Lookingbill, born in York, Pennsylvania, attended Franklin and Marshall College and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was the Intern at The Lutheran Church of the Reformation under Dr. Arnold Keller from 1970-1971. His first call was to serve Zion Lutheran Church, Wilmington, Delaware. After marrying Judith Twilley, they moved to East Baltimore to serve Emmanuel Lutheran Church. In 1979 Jan received the call to become the Pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Bethesda, MD, where he continues to serve. Jan and Judy have three children and two grandchildren.

PASTOR PAUL WEE

Paul and his wife, Rene reside in Alexandria, Virginia.  Paul is presently adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC. From 1986 to 1993 Paul was assistant general secretary for International Affairs and Human Rights of the Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation. He was senior pastor of the Church of the Reformation from 1994-1999.  Since that time he served as International Theological Director of the Luther Center in Wittenberg, Germany, and program officer in the Religion and Peacemaking unit of the United Sates Institute of Peace, working primarily on interfaith conflict resolution in Nigeria and Colombia

REV. DR. CECILIE JORGENSEN STROMMEN

 

As part of our 2009 Anniversary Year Celebration, we are privileged to host the Reverend Cecilie Jorgensen Strommen, a Pastor of the Lutheran Church of Norway.  Rev. Strommen is also the wife of Ambassador Wegger Christian Strommen, who is representing the Royal Kingdom of Norway in the U.S.  The Strommens live in the Norwegian Embassy on Massachusetts Ave., across from the Naval Observatory. 

Rev. Strommen has done Studies in Theology in Neuendettelsau, Germany, at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, the Norwegian Lutheran School of Theology, the University of Tel Aviv, the Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem, and in 2003 received a Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.  Presently she is finishing Doctoral studies at Philadelphia.   

Her call to ministry has involved Rev. Strommen as a parish pastor, a consultant to the Lutheran World Federation, an Ecumenical officer in the Church of Norway, a Student Chaplain at the Norwegian Lutheran School of Theology and of late with the renewing worship initiative of the Church of Norway.  She presently volunteers as a Chaplain at the Washington National Cathedral in DC.   

May we give a warm and gracious welcome to Rev. Strommen as she shares the Word of Christ with us today! 

 

REV. RICHARD GRAHAM, BISHOP, METRO DC SYNOD, ELCA

 

The Rev. Richard H. Graham was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod of the ELCA on June 8, 2007, by the 2007 Synod Assembly. He took office on September 1, 2007, and was installed on October 14, 2007. Bishop Graham most recently served as pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in College Park, Maryland. Additionally, he has been Assistant Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown, Maryland; and Associate Pastor of St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, Annapolis, Maryland. Bishop Graham received a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1977 and a Master of Arts degree in Church History from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. in 1989. Prior local leadership included as synod secretary, member of the synod‚Äôs Candidacy Committee and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Lutheran Home for the Aged, Rockville, Maryland. Bishop Graham succeeded the Rev. Theodore F. Schneider who retired from the position after serving two terms following his election in 1995. Bishop Graham is married to Nancy Ann Graham and has two adult daughters.