|
From the Office of the Bishop
It is with a heavy yet thankful heart that I am announcing that Rev. Dr. Judith Spindt, Bishop’s Associate for Missional Leadership, is retiring, effective May 1, 2021. She will continue to serve as the candidacy liaison for my office on a contract basis for the foreseeable future. She will also continue to take the lead with our companion synod relationship with the Lutheran Church In Costa Rica. Pastor Spindt has been an amazing partner for me and has long blessed the church in so many ways with her leadership. You can read more about her ministry following. In celebration of her many years of ministry, you can honor her by giving gifts in her name to the Synod Fund for Leaders either through our synod website or by check to Southwestern Texas Synod Pastor Spindt will be moving to Laredo to be closer to family. I am in discernment about what to do next with staffing, so stay tuned. Please keep Pastor Spindt and the Office of the Bishop Staff in your prayers during this time of transition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From September 2018 to April 2021, Pastor Spindt has served in the Office of the Bishop of Southwestern Texas Synod as Bishop’s Associate for Leadership. Before that, she worked for the ELCA from December 2001 to August of 2018; first, as Region 7 Coordinator relating to the 7 synods of the Northeast and their candidacy committees, as well as organizing the annual First Call Conference. She was deployed to the New Jersey Synod from 2004 to 2013. In 2013, She came to the Southwestern Texas Synod as the Director for Evangelical Mission. During that time, Pastor Spindt supervised and accompanied the starting of 20 new ministries, 10 of which became organized congregations of the ELCA. Many of those new ministry ventures were among People of Color and Language other than English. She also coordinated a transformational ministry team in New Jersey that presented retreats and workshops for congregations in renewal throughout the Northeast. She served on the ELCA New Start Team. A graduate of the Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico, Pastor Spindt was ordained by the Caribbean Synod in 1983, the first woman called to serve a congregation in that synod. She served El Redentor in Puerto Nuevo, La Epifanía in Bayamón, and Getsemaní in Dorado (all Spanish-speaking congregations in Puerto Rico) and also served as Assistant to the Bishop of the Caribbean Synod. Following Hurricane Marilyn, she served Lutheran Church of the Reformation in St Thomas VI and learned to preach and lead worship in English. She was called to Messiah, Redwood City CA and then called by the ELCA Church Council to serve as Region 7 Coordinator. Pastor Spindt always knew she had a call to Word and Sacrament Ministry but was not able to prepare for ministry until after the LCA approved the ordination of women in 1970. Her first career was as a Junior High School Social Studies teacher. That education and experience proved helpful throughout her ministry. She has been blessed to serve across cultures and languages, bringing African, South Asian, Brazilian, and Korean ministries into the ELCA as well as many Spanish-speaking Latino ministries. Pastor Spindt is mother to Brian Manning and Melissa Gonzalez as well as grandmother to Victor and Xochitl Gonzalez, and Oliver and Lucas Manning. In Christ,
Bishop Sue Briner |
