Shepherds
Pastor Herbert Kern
By the grace of God Pastor Kern was assigned by the Atlantic District of our church body to start a church in the East Meadow/Levittown area at a time of fantastic potential. During his 32-year ministry (1950:82) 1378 were baptized, 3821 children were enrolled in Sunday School, 1171 young people were confirmed, and 1195 persons were received into the Calvary family through 77 membership courses.During his early years at Calvary Pastor Kern trained over 100 seminary graduates in house-to-house canvassing and procedures in starting new churches. This was an advantage to the District. Moreover, the thousands of calls that were made kept us in touch with the unchurched of the community. Pastor Kern emphasized Bible study, evangelism, youth work, the support of missions and charitable agencies in our country and beyond, and the freewill offering system.
For 31 years Pastor Kern was a member of the Lutheran Hour sermon research committee with Dr. Oswald Hofthiann. He is the author of "How to Respond to Jehovah's Witnesses" and has lectured widely on witnessing to the members of this cult. He wrote the Portals of Prayer meditations for June 1987 and with his wife, Alma, also for May 1990.
He has been fortunate to enjoy good health. At the age of 55 he walked 136 miles from Manhattan to Montauk in six non-consecutive days. He was the circuit counselor of our eight Nassau County Lutheran churches from 1988-1994. For 44 years he has been the Protestant chaplain of the East Meadow Fire Department. He has since 1993 helped parttime at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Amityville. He also preaches occasionally at other churches, including Calvary. Pastor and Alma continue to live at the parsonage on Fifth Street in East Meadow thanks to an agreement made almost 25 years ago.
Pastor Mark Whitsett
Pastor Whitsett preached sermons of substance and was an excellent Bible teacher. He encouraged parents to worship in church with their children. He arranged for renewal conferences that attracted hundreds from Calvary and other Long Island congregations and also well-attended, full-day Walk Through the Bible gatherings. Pastor Whitsett started 20/20 Bible classes (named after Acts 20:20). His wife, Margy, conducted Bible classes for young mothers and Volley and Soul Bible classes for young adults.Mark Whitsett (guitarist) and Margy (organist) brought a resurgence of music at Calvary. Margy organized and directed a junior choir. Pastor introduced Saturday night services in which he led the congregation in singing contemporary songs. He took an active role in the week-long Billy Graham Crusade held at the Nassau Coliseum in 1990. He "brought the 20th century" to Calvary's church office. He was responsible for installing Calvary's new phone system and obtaining a copier and computer.
Pastor Whitsett came to us in September 1984 and stayed for a little more than eight years. He left Calvary to study for a doctorate in missiology (study of mission strategy) at Coneordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. At present he is also pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Anderson, IN.
Pastor Chris Nilges
Pastor Nilges was our Assistant Pastor from 1988 to 1991. Friends of Pastor Chris, a weight lifter, think of him as a "huggable teddy bear." His favorite word was "awesome." He used it whether he spoke about the Denver Broncos or was emphasizing a point in a sermon. We remember also his beautiful rendition of the Benediction to the accompaniment of his guitar.He was responsible for "Jesus' Fleet of Flying Feet," a group of over two dozen members who distributed flyers to thousands of homes in the area advertising our church services and Nursery School. He was also in charge of Calvary's angel tree. Members picked the names of children from the tree. Their gifts were brought to the Nassau County Jail for prisoners to give their own children for Christmas.
Vicar Tim Anderson
In June 1991 Calvary welcomed Tim Anderson, a third year student from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana to serve as vicar for 14 months. Vicar Anderson was a second career man. He had spent eight years as a middle manager for Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati and Atlanta before attending the seminary.Tim was a thoughtful, caring person with a reassuring way. He was a good preacher, an effective helper of Pastor Whitsett. He got along well with young and old. Tim will be remembered by our ladies for his surprise appearance at their Fashion Show. He was a model dressed as a bride. Unbeknown to him the, "groom" that walked with him down the aisle was his wife, Jenny.
Pastor Harold Therwanger
Before coming to Calvary Pastor Therwanger was the Executive Director of Suffolk Lutheran School and Assistant Pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, St. James, Long Island. He was installed as our pastor on September 18, 1994. He was loving, enthusiastic, innovative and related well to all ages. He was an excellent preacher and Bible teacher and a compassionate visitor of the sick. His Pastor's Forums on Sunday morning were well received."Pastor T" successfully introduced the new Lutheran Hymnal and the eternal light in the chancel and moved the altar forward. He instituted the voluntary imposition of ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednesday, the burning of Christmas trees in the Epiphany season, a German Christmas Eve service, and dramas featuring St. Lucia and St. Nicholas during Sunday services in Advent. He organized our Christmas Lantern Procession to St. Raphael's last December. Hundreds of people from both churches sang Christmas carols as they marched.
He involved the youth in our church services -- as acolytes, crucifers, and in Lenten dramas. He directed the confirmation class pupils in monthly service projects and took them -- together with some parents and other adults -- on tours of New York City churches. Pastor Therwanger ran in six marathons (each 26+ miles), including three times in the New York City marathon. In January 2000 he accepted the call to serve as Director of Church Relations at his alma mater, Concordia University, River Forest, IL.