1990 - 2000

“When we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” Psalm 79:13

Intergenerational multi-ministries working together under our Heavenly Father’s divine guidance were emphasized during the 1990s on Mount Calvary’s campus. This was influenced by a Master Plan developed by the Property Evaluation and Research Team (PERT) and approved by the Voters’ Assembly on June 22, 1986. The Plan’s concern was to determine the best way to utilize and develop the existing vacant property. Bob Dehmlow chaired the PERT Team. He was assisted by Dee Broeker, Mike Caviness, Heidi Derbak, Russ Druckenmiller and David Romberg.

Phase I of the Master Plan developed by PERT was the construction of the Christian Children’s Center (CCC) on the northwest corner of the property at 7th Avenue and Colter. This building was dedicated and opened to receive children in September of 1990. For a more detailed history of this project, please refer to Chapter Seven.

Church Ministries in the 90s

A new church sign on 7th Avenue announced the church and its affiliated educational programs.

At the beginning of the decade the traditional Church Council form of government was in place. Elected members of the Council served also as chairpersons for the various committees needed to carry out the mission and programs of the congregation.

An Elders Ministry maintained spiritual oversight of all Mount Calvary agencies, programs and individuals of the congregation. This included Tape and Care Ministries, Music, Altar Guild and Ushers. Virginia Romberg and Tish Smidt were actively involved with the Tape Ministry. Marty Lawrenz, Loyd Deffner, Bob Mincher, and Otto Southard were mainstays of the Usher staff.

A Board of Education provided instruction classes for all children’s groups above three years of age. Classes were held on Sunday mornings between the two worship services. Their classrooms also were used by Martin Luther and Valley Lutheran Schools during the week. A long-time member, Evelyn Campbell, served as Sunday School superintendent for twelve years.

The philosophy of the Board of Trustees was to maintain an efficient and attractive worship environment that would enhance the spiritual experience of both members and visitors at Mount Calvary. This was realized through constant maintenance, refurbishments as needed, and additions to church properties when warranted. Active in this area were Steve Bragg, David DeBaun, Loyd Deffner, Ray Isaacs and Ray Marshall.

The intent of our Stewardship Ministry was to develop a strong sense of stewardship within Mount Calvary, both as a congregation and as individual members. Talents of individual members were discerned by an evaluation process administered to the entire membership and to new members during orientation classes. Time and Treasure responsibilities were part of the learning process as well. This ministry was administered by Pastor Smidt and Peter Mueller, with much assistance from Marylene Lee and Lois Schmidt.

Our Youth Ministry provided an outlet for the personal, social and spiritual needs of young people. Divided into Junior Youth, Senior Youth and Young Adults, they were actively involved in Bible studies and social events.

In 1991 a Youth Center was established at the north end of the gymnasium to give the youth a “place of their own” for informal meetings and activities. Further information on this project may be found in Chapter Seven.

The youth also were active in taking part in Winter Camps, Summer Days (Vacation Bible School on Mount Calvary’s campus), and trips to various locations. Linda Colwell, who has been an active adult volunteer through the decade, said, “The worship is always worship” in their evaluation forms following the event.

Summer Days program brought out the talents of many young people.

Lay leaders who took on various responsibilities to assist the youth of the church included Craig and Eric Bolze, Linda Colwell, Jeff Davis, Debbie Markling Goodman and Penny Kienow. These members made strong commitments for their service, both in number and length of times they served in this capacity.

Peter Mueller (third from left in back row) and his crew of youth counselors kept the youth busy and growing in Christ.

Mount Calvary’s Music Ministry emphasized the goal of using music in a way which pleases and praises God, both in worship settings and in outside programs. This program encompassed all worship services, the organists and the various choirs—handbell, adult, chancel and cherub. In the early part of this decade Dr. John Hooper directed the vocal choirs. Kenneth Heitshusen was organist. Others who made important music leadership contributions in the latter years included Debbie Arfsten, James Asmus, Joanne Bissey, Jane Haak, Susan Smidt, Terri Soroka and Joan Tucker.

A Sunday Nursery Ministry provided care for children up to and including age 3 during church services, Sunday School and Bible classes, as well as during special functions. This freed parents to participate in other ministries, worship services and fellowship. The nursery provided both play and rest areas for children, as well as changing and feeding areas.

Another group, Women’s Ministries, was active in the early 1990s. Each fall they held a Craft Sale, chaired by Millie Sengstock. All items were made by the ladies of the congregation. Monies raised from these sales were used for various needs of the church. The women worked on their crafts all year and, as Florence Bredehoft said, “Nobody knew what the other person was going to bring.” Sometimes some of the men got involved as well. Russell Mize provided his inlaid wood items, and Ralph Siewert made lecture stands. The Women’s Ministry group also served homemade soup and sandwiches before midweek Lenten worship services.

A new flavor was introduced during the early part of the decade with Coffee Fellowships held between Sunday morning worship services. A Hospitality Group began providing a brunch-type meal consisting of warm food to foster a time of fellowship immediately following the first service. These opportunities were well received.

During this decade a Senior Adult Ministry was developed to serve the needs of the numerous senior members of the congregation. Walter Schmidt was installed as Senior Adult Minister on January 14, 1990. This program consisted of weekly Bible classes (which were also open to seniors-to-be), outside speakers on health awareness and other topics of local interest, visits to community points of interest, assistance offered at life’s various milestones, blood pressure checks and a recent innovation, the “Service in Christ” award to an outstanding congregation member each year during special Senior Recognition worship services. Honorees thus far have been Irene Mohr (1997), Charles Mohr (1998), Joan Tucker (1999) and Lois Schmidt (2000).

The Senior Adult Bible Class enjoys learning, fellowship and eating during their weekly meetings.

A Senior Board, chaired by a member of the Senior Adult group, assists the Senior Adult Minister in a number of various ways. As an outgrowth of Mount Calvary’s Senior Adult Ministry, Walt helped to coordinate a highly successful LutherHostel held in the Tucson area during the last half of the 1990s.

Top of the Mount, the congregation’s newsletter, appeared on a regular basis throughout this decade. The first editor, Ken Heitshusen, served in this capacity during the first half of the 1990s, preparing and mailing out a bi-weekly publication. After Ken’s departure from Mount Calvary, the newsletter became a monthly publication. Peter Mueller and Joan Tucker shared editorial duties until Pete’s departure for the Seminary in 1997. Joan Tucker was editor from that time until September 2000, serving on a volunteer basis.

A Governing Restructure

In the mid-1990s Mount Calvary underwent a “corporate” organizational change, a new mission statement was adopted, and the Church Council became known as the Board of Directors. The new mission statement was:

“Generations together

bringing family, friends and neighbors

into a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

The previous Church Council/Board organization was changed from a committee structure to a “Focus Ministry” framework. Seven Focus Ministries were selected as areas of ministry concentration. Each area is supervised by a staff person who is responsible to the Board of Directors for the activities of his respective areas. In 1997 a “lay ministry” was begun to assist the pastor, principally in the distribution of Holy Communion.

Worship services on Sundays were held at 8:30 am (a traditional service) and 11:00 am (a praise/contemporary service). Services on Saturday evenings at 5:30 were begun to accommodate those members who had to work on Sunday mornings. These services were later moved to Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m.

In January 1997 a Stephen Ministry was added to Mount Calvary’s program. Its purpose is to help people who are experiencing crisis situations, such as grieving, divorce, and hospitalizations. Under the leadership of Joan Markosian-Howell and Walter Schmidt nine members of the congregation were trained to regularly meet on a one-to-one basis with people who require personal assistance in their lives.

The training period to become a Stephen Minister covers several months of meetings and studying. This ongoing ministry has benefited many Mount Calvary members who have asked to have a Stephen Minister visit them.

Pastor Will Krueger

The retirement of Pastor Robisch in 1990 served to help the congregation realize how important evangelism and outreach were to them. To continue the momentum established by Pastor Robisch’s contributions, an invitation was extended to a recently retired pastor from Wisconsin, Rev. Willard Krueger. From 1991 to 1994 Pastor Krueger served Mount Calvary on a part-time basis. He was mainly responsible for the outreach and evangelism emphases during his time of service.

Pastor Smidt’s 25th Anniversary

On June 13, 1993, the 25th anniversary of Pastor Don Smidt’s ordination into the ministry was observed at a combined Sunday morning worship service, with a reception afterwards in the gymnasium. Other pastors from the Valley took part in a surprise humorous “Royal Roasting” of Pastor Smidt at this reception. The congregation presented Pastor and Susan Smidt with a check to cover a trip to Frankfurt, Germany, to visit their son, Erich, who was working there.

This generous gift was eventually used in May of 1994 when Pastor and Susan made the anticipated trip with a couple of close friends from Salt Lake City. A few days before they were to return to this country, however, they were all involved in a traffic accident which ultimately claimed the lives of their friends and left all three of the Smidts with very serious injuries. While the shock of the accident affected the congregation greatly, they rallied around the Smidts upon their return, providing them with meals and assistance wherever possible.

In October 1996 Pastor Smidt asked the congregation for a peaceful release from his Call as Senior Pastor because of health concerns and complications from the accident. Pastor Smidt had served Mount Calvary for 17 years.

During Pastor Smidt’s recuperation from his accident, Peter Mueller, Minister of Discipleship; Gary Smith, chairman of the Board of Elders, who was studying to be a lay deacon; and Ric Gardiner, another Elder, all filled in during the Sunday morning worship services. This arrangement continued until Pastor William Royer became Interim Minister later in 1996. The Saturday evening worship continued to be led by Pastor Cris Artigas, missionary-at-large to the Hispanic population of Phoenix and a member of Mount Calvary.

Pastor Dann Ettner

After a time of prayerful searching for another Senior Pastor, Rev. Dann J. Ettner of Pasadena, CA, was installed as Mount Calvary’s fifth Senior Pastor on January 4, 1998. See Chapter Ten for Pastor Ettner’s biography. His interest in cross-cultural ministry led to the beginning of an Ethiopian/Eritrean congregation, which worships in the gymnasium building each Sunday morning. This group is led by Pastor Addis Anteneh, an Ethiopian minister who joined Mount Calvary by adult confirmation in 1999. Pastor Addis has met and been approved in this endeavor by the LCMS Board for Cross-Cultural Ministries. Pastor Ettner has also encouraged Pastor Cris Artigas to hold Hispanic worship services at Mount Calvary. These services are being held on Saturday evenings.

Pastor Ettner’s involvement in the Army Reserve chaplaincy has provided him with another area of challenging ministry. He was already in the military chaplaincy before he accepted the Call to come to Mount Calvary, and he has continued his involvement with a local unit in Phoenix. His required training and active duty assignments have led to some interesting contacts with the soldiers in the unit(s) to which he is assigned.

Other Staff Additions

In 1996 David Haak was added to the staff as a salaried Director of Support Services. His responsibilities include personnel matters relating to the church’s ministry staff, as well as management of the church office, the church facilities and the church finances. Prior to Dave’s employment, Marylene Lee, first Director of Support Services, was handling the church’s financial matters as a valued professional volunteer.

Director of Christian Education (DCE) Stanley Smidt, brother of Pastor Don Smidt, was installed in 1997 as Director of the Christian Children’s Center. In 1998 his duties were expanded to include responsibility for all Christian education as well as Youth. Under Stan’s leadership the Christian Children’s Center focus was changed from a daycare facility for infants through preschool age to a Preschool facility for 3-5-year-olds with a curriculum aimed at preparing children for kindergarten. He also instituted a series of activities designed to assist the neighborhood with meeting space at the Center. Stan continued to hold this position until November of 2000.

Volunteers

Throughout this decade, as well as all those preceding it, the faithful volunteers who have assisted in everything from clerical work to gardening to cooking duties have helped our church immensely. There are many who stepped forward in each decade to give of their time and talents. We cannot begin to name them individually. They all have been and still are so very much appreciated.

As the millennium year of 2000 approached, Mount Calvary’s people gave thanks to God for the many blessings He had bestowed upon them. They also looked forward to the year-long celebration of their 50th Anniversary, beginning in January, 2000. Although the congregation’s numbers had decreased during the decade of the 1990s, the membership at the end of 1999 still amounted to 352 communicants and 102 baptized members. The church leadership was again looking at the central city location of the church as a mission and evangelism opportunity to be used to bring people to the campus and expose them to the saving Good News of Jesus Christ.

—William Mahlke/Joan D. Tucker