I was honored to preach for the 75th Anniversary of the first church I served in ministry, Reformation Lutheran in Media, PA. Here is the sermon.
75th Anniversary Sermon for Reformation Lutheran Church, Media, PA
Oct. 25, 2025
Text: John 8:31-36
I bring you greetings from Lexington Theological Seminary, our president Charisse Gillett, our dean, Jon Barnes, our faculty, staff, board, and students. I also bring you greetings from the Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the ELCA where we are served by Bishop Tim Graham. We are honored by the presence of this synod’s bishop, Rev. Brian Penman along with a host of synodical and ecumenical partners who have joined us today. We are celebrating with all of you this beautiful 75th anniversary service for Reformation Lutheran Church in Media, Pennsylvania.
25, 50, 75
I will tell you it is very special to be invited to be part of this service, because this year I celebrated the 25th anniversary of my own ordination. I was here for the 50th anniversary, and I am honored to preach this sermon a quarter-century later. Some of you were there in York, PA, as I took my ordination vows at St. Paul’s Lutheran.
This church saw me graduate from seminary, threw a baby shower for the birth of our first child, Rachel, babysat both Rachel and Benjamin (especially Madeline and Bob Heim), and supported Jim and me as parents and professional musicians. This congregation taught me so much that I have integrated into my teaching, my books, and my scholarship. I served 15 years in church ministry before becoming a seminary professor.
I would not have been able to be the pastor, seminary professor, and scholar that I am without the ten years I spent in this church, first as your vicar, and then as your associate pastor.
Reformation has consistently raised up new leaders for the church. Pastor Doris Waters, Pastor Patricia Johnson, and Rev. Betsy Arnold are “Timothy-daughters” of this congregation. And a steady stream of seminarians and deacons have both learned from and contributed to the ministry of this church, from Lee Miller (who is now a bishop, by the way), to Jennifer Hitt, Justin Johnson, Alina Gayeuski, Beth Barkau, Linda Furia, Sue Loney, Paula Estornell, and Bruce Pollock.
Reformation has also been a place with a vibrant music program.
It began in 1964 with Dave Leibig serving 28-year at Reformation. I wouldn’t be here without having learned about the Liebig Scholarship and performed with the harp here back in 1999.
This congregation has always known that music is essential not just for worship, but as a primary source of faith formation for all ages. Marian Horn Miller, Patti Rahi, Linda Furia, Duncan Stearns, Bill Lafty, and now Valerie Rozek, and Erik Flaten have all helped this congregation make a joyous and melodious song unto the Lord.
And lest we forget, this church has hosted a noble procession of celebrities over the years. Wayne and Garth! Batman and Robin! The Blues Brothers!
All Holy Humor aside, this is part of the secret sauce that makes Reformation such a vibrant congregation. This church has consistently recognized the importance of having a pair of pastoral leaders to guide and cast a vision for this congregation.
Pastors Robert Anderson and Richard Hess. William Scholl and Rinda Rogers.
Al Douglas and Jim Daniels. Larry Smoose and myself, followed by Anita London.
Wayne Matthias-Long and Alina Gayeuski.
And now Pastors Alina and Eileen Ruppel-Doan are leading this congregation.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs, and this church is a reflection of that pragmatic wisdom. With complementing gifts, perspectives, and strengths for ministry, these pastor pairings have enabled this congregation to live into its mission:
Called by Christ, We Invite All People, Serve Our Neighbors, Build a Living Faith
Called by Christ – this is the reason why we are here today, why this church exists, why this entire denomination exists. Our Gospel reading, John 8:31-36, was one of the key texts that inspired Martin Luther to reform the medieval church. He argued that true spiritual freedom comes directly from faith in Christ, not through human authorities or institutional structures. Luther insisted that only trust and faith in Christ’s grace could free people from the tyranny of guilt and fear of damnation.
The Reformation literally re-formed not just the church, but the entire European society.
- The Reformation was the first media revolution in Western history utilizing the newly invented printing press to help Luther’s writings go “viral,” as we say today.
- Luther’s emphasis on education, vocation, and the dignity of ordinary labor contributed to innovation, education reform, and social mobility, as well as the notion of everyone doing their civic duty for the good of all.
- And by challenging papal and imperial dominance, reformers like Luther indirectly paved the way for modern constitutionalism and democracy.
This church has lived up to its namesake – Reformation – in so many ways.
The original members reformed their worship space from the humble township building to a church school building here on the corner of Rose Tree and Providence Rd., and then with three building expansions and renovations.
The church reformed from simply serving those who gathered in this worship space to ministering in the community through the Nursery School and Stay and Play program which were founded by Saint Barbara Creighton.
Reformation’s outreach to serve our neighbors included chaplaincy at Elwyn Institute, having Aid for Friends cook-ins, and providing volunteers and worship services at Chester City Team Ministries. Building a living faith extended to the larger church through work with the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. And globally through helping to resettle refugees and through partnerships with the Pangani Parish in Tanzania. I went through the website and counted 32 community partners that Reformation works with today!
This church also embraced what I would call an ecological reformation.
We recognized that our ministry extends to God’s Creation. We started the Eco Ministry in this congregation twenty years ago, and I am so proud to see that it is still going!
Generations of families have been baptized and received their first communion at Reformation. Countless youth have been confirmed. Many couples celebrated their marriages – perhaps one of the most memorable being Jud and Elsie Klepper who probably set the record for the oldest couple to have gotten married here. And, of course, the heavenly cloud of witnesses grew as we entrusted our beloved friends and family members to God’s eternal care.
From the waters of baptism to weekly gatherings at the table, from new birth to dying in Christ, from Delaware County to places around the world, Reformation has been a vital ministry hub for 75 years.
But we must also recognize that there have been times of difficulty. The pandemic shook the world to its core, and Reformation had to navigate all of those issues. Battles with addictions were lost and robbed many of their lives and loved ones. Illnesses have afflicted many, and deaths have taken beloved members of this congregation.
Also, issues around politics have affected this congregation.
We’ve vacillated between creative tension and division that strains the body of Christ. I know that deep rifts emerged that could not be bridged for some.
We wish that it did not have to be this way. We long for a church that can transcend these polarizing forces. But the truth is, the Lutheran church has had its roots in the Two Kingdoms of the earthly and Godly realm from the very beginning.
Luther’s theology was forged amid ecclesial battles about the power of the church and the government.
During the crusades that preceded the Reformation, religion was used to legitimize holy wars against those the church deemed infidels. This continued with the papal wars, the Inquisition, and the violent suppression of dissenters. Generations of young men were radicalized, given weapons, and had free reign to attack, pillage, and terrorize entire countries and communities, all with the blessings of the church.
The church was also enmeshed with political rulers that enabled corruption to compromise the moral integrity of those who were entrusted with the sacred office of ministry. In Luther’s Germany, the church conferred legitimacy on political rulers and shored up its own authority and wealth with all kinds of theological malpractice like selling indulgences, pastoral offices, and other financial and moral abuses.
Luther called out that corruption.
He was not a saint, let’s be clear. But his protest can be seen as a spiritual rejection of a coercive, militarized Christianity. He wrote the 95 Theses that put the powers on notice that they were not above the law of God – nor were they beyond the grace of God.
But the authorities tried to silence him and nearly executed him for his prophetic critique of the religious hierarchy. He faced the lion’s den and the fiery furnace. Yet he had faith that Christ had gone ahead of him and was making a way for him. Luther was so compelled by the teachings of Christ, by the power of the cross and resurrection, that he famously refused to recant his teachings: Here I stand, I can do no other.
My siblings in Christ, we are in another Here I Stand moment in history.
Today’s Christian nationalism fuses a particular Christian identity with political power that is enacting an anti-Jesus agenda across this nation. Just as Luther saw in the 1500s, religion is being used to protect wealthy elite interests. Generations of men are being radicalized, given weapons, and allowed free reign to attack, kidnap, and terrorize, all with the blessings of certain churches and religious leaders.
Public education is being pressured, and academic freedom is being assaulted and dismantled. The recurring pattern of religion being used to justify coercive political control has once again resurfaced with frightening strength and no apparent check on its power thus far.
But like Luther and the reformers, we, too, have resources for resistance and reform.
Our Two Kingdoms doctrine means that we can and must critique the state when it violates justice or abuses power, and when it claims ultimate spiritual authority for its dominance.
The theology of the cross means that we denounce assertions that God blesses only the powerful and the wealthy and the white, and instead drives us to find Christ among the least of these who are being oppressed by those forces.
Justification by grace through faith in Christ counters the ideology of justification by faith in a militarized state.
And the priesthood of all believers means that each one of us, in our sphere of influence, can witness to the servanthood of Christ. This means joining with our neighbors in solidarity, and acting in ways that are consistent with what Jesus preached about the ethics and Kingdom of God.
I daresay Reformation Lutheran Church was born for this moment.
Think of this church’s history. Founded in 1950, just five years after the end of World War II, many of the original members of this church put their bodies in uniforms and their lives on the line to help stop the genocidal reign of fascism.
You want to see what Antifa looks like? Page through the old church directories and see the faces of Elizabeth Robinson, Bob Heim, Ernie Bogert and others. They would have been proud to be called Antifa, antifascists. Yet they were humble in their sacrifice because they knew what it takes to preserve a world in which people are free to worship, work, love, and live without the fear of tyranny and authoritarian brutality.
So, just as Lutheranism was birthed from the cataclysmic clash of global forces, so was Reformation Lutheran Church birthed in the aftermath of a global clash of powers.
It was the vision of three women – Anna Tinsman, Alyce Thompson, and Ruth Kuder – who saw the potential for a church in this suburb of the City of Brotherly Love, to help raise up and shape the next generation of Christians to follow the teachings of Jesus. The strength and will of those women brought this church into existence as a testament to the faith that had sustained them and their community through two World Wars.
The church’s first pastor, Rev. Robert Anderson caught that vision of what it would mean to have a congregation here in Delaware County where people could claim their baptismal vocation as children of God. For seventy-five years this church has been sustaining people through the most difficult and the most joyful moments of their lives.
There has never been a time when the ministry of Reformation is more needed.
With racism rearing its hateful head, Larry Smoose partnered with African American ministers and congregations in our area; while Edna Bogert and others have faithfully participated in the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marches every year. Reformation continues its commitment to antiracism, racial reconciliation, and ministering to migrants who seek refuge in this country.
With the climate crisis and environmental devastation threatening the very capacity of God’s Creation to sustain life on this planet, Reformation hosted a community dinner and a showing of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Since then, you have planted pollinator gardens and continue to make ecological justice a priority.
With the rights of our LGBTQIA siblings threatened, Reformation is a Reconciling in Christ congregation affirming the dignity of all genders and sexual orientations.
With accessibility and protection programs being dismantled for those with disabilities, Reformation remains a church that offers support for people with differing abilities and needs while continuing its ministry with Elwyn.
And with book bans and academic freedom threatened, Reformation continues its commitment to education through its library, nursery school, Sunday School, Confirmation, scholarships, and internship programs.
You are doing the Lord’s work, Church!
I am so proud to say that I pastored here. I’m proud to see the ministry of this congregation continue to reform and grow with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
So when you are facing the fiery furnace; when you are in the lion’s den; when you are heartbroken standing at the foot of the cross; when it all feels overwhelming and overpowering, I want you to remember. Remember that your Lord has gone ahead of you and continues to make a way for you to do the ministry you were born to do in Christ’s name.
Here you stand, Reformation Lutheran Church. Here WE stand:
Called by Christ!
Thanks be to God!
Read also:
3 New Testament Messages for Resisting Autocracy
Christ the King Sunday Counters Christian Nationalism
A Thousand Points of Lutheran Light – 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is a seminary professor and ordained minister. She does not speak for Reformation Lutheran Church or for the ELCA. Her opinions are her own.
Leah is the author of Preaching and Social Issues: Tools and Tactics for Empowering Your Prophetic Voice (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Her book, Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation, was co-authored with Jerry L. Sumney and Emily Askew (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).
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