Worship Leaders

Rev. Dr. Dean Nadasdy, LCMS 3rd Vice President and senior pastor at Woodbury Lutheran Church in Woodbury, Minnesota, is the worship designer for both worship services and proclaimer for the Thursday opening Communion service. He has served on the LCMS Board of Communication Services and has written extensively in the areas of child, youth and adult curriculum. He is the author of four LifeLight adult Bible studies and writes worship and preaching resources for pastors. He is a guest instructor at
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and has taught in Latvia and Hungary. In 1996, Concordia University, Seward, awarded him its Doctor of Letters degree.

Rev. Dr. Vernon L. Schindler, past president of the South Dakota District (1998-2006), will be the proclaimer for the Sunday worship service. He served as an evangelistic missionary in Ghana, West Africa, from 1967 to 1978, during which time he established congregations and translated a hymnal in the Fanti language. In addition to serving in many capacities on the district level, he has also held a number of posts in the synod and continues to serve as a doctrinal reviewer. Rev. Schindler served the LWML as counselor from 1993 to 1997.

Song Leader

Dina C. Vendetti, a former YWR, is our convention song leader. She grew up in the Baltimore, Maryland, area attending Lutheran schools and continued her education at Concordia, Bronxville, receiving a degree in Music and Elementary Education. In 1994 she received a Master of Education degree from Towson University in Baltimore. Dina resides in Dover, Delaware where she is principal of St. John’s Lutheran School. She is presently enrolled in a doctoral program at Wilmington College. Dina has 22 years of experience working in Lutheran Schools and is active in church directing choir and handbell choir, and as a musician and vocalist. In her community she serves in Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce.

Bible Study Leader

Dr. Mary Manz Simon, our Bible study leader, spoke at the LWML Convention in Charlotte and is a trend tracker for publishers and family entertainment companies. As a speaker, she flies as many as 100,000 miles annually. Since her first book, Little Visits with Jesus, was released by CPH in 1987, Mary’s titles have sold nearly 2 million copies. Host of Front Porch Parenting, produced by KFUO, the broadcast arm of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod, her program airs daily on 300 outlets. She writes the signature column, Ahead of the Curve, for Focus on the Family. Mary and her husband, Hank, an LCMS pastor, reside in Odenton, Maryland, have been married over 30 years and are parents of three twentysomethings.

Keynote Speaker

 Mission Speakers

Rev. Dr. Robert M. Roegner, executive director of the Board for Mission Services (LCMS World Mission), has been active in
helping to create the mission movement Ablaze! He has also served as an evangelistic missionary/church planter in West Africa; missionary counselor for the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Liberia; area secretary for Africa, Europe and the Middle East for the LCMS Board for Mission Services; and executive director of Lutheran Bible Translators. He is currently working on his S.T.M. in Missiology degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne.

Rev. Ray S. Wilke is a 1970 graduate of Concordia Seminary, Springfield, IL. After serving for seven years as missionary in the
Philippines, he served at Grace Lutheran in Norfolk, Nebraska, as associate pastor and then senior pastor. In 1992 Pastor Wilke went to Russia and Latvia and during that time the idea was conceived for providing Gospel and human care helps to the people of that devastated part of the world. That idea became the present day Orphan Grain Train ministry of which he serves as president. Orphan Grain Train provides Gospel teaching materials, medical supplies, food and other human care materials to more than 24 foreign locations around the world, as well as serving domestic disaster needs as they arise.

Rev. Khurram and Cynthia Khan. Khurram was born in Pakistan and raised in the home of his grandfather, a converted
Christian. Rev. Khan was educated in Pakistan, then worked
for an oil company in Saudi Arabia where he attended underground church meetings. His boss, a Lutheran, encouraged Khurram to relocate to Canada and there they connected with People Of the Book Lutheran Outreach (POBLO). Both Khurram and wife, Cynthia, joined POBLO as missionaries in 1995. Khurram is Executive Director of POBLO International in Michigan, and is also the Muslim Task Force Facilitator of the LCMS. Under his leadership, POBLO grew to an outreach mission throughout North America, and started mission fields in North India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Cynthia coordinates the English as a Second Language program for POBLO where many first contacts are made. Through Bible studies, one-on-one sessions, and personal contacts, Cynthia works daily bringing many to know Christ Jesus. As a missionary to ethnic groups, she provides counseling and helps with social needs. POBLO reaches out to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other groups, with the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. POBLO International has started a Lutheran Leadership Training Institute in Pakistan. Sixteen pastors will complete a three-year graduate training program in September 2006 which is funded by an LWML mission grant.

Entertainment

Erin Bode, our Saturday evening entertainer, is an LCMS Lutheran from St. Louis and is the daughter of Rev. Gerhard H. Bode, a past LWML national counselor. Erin has the rare mix of sophistication and class with a sincere kindness and approachability. Her talent and appeal have been lauded in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Jazz Times, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and many other major publications. The Erin Bode Group has performed nationwide at venues such as Blues Alley in Washington, DC, Zanzibar Blue and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, and at Sweet Rhythm and Joe’s Pub in New York. They have played two European tours. Erin has opened for Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble, Chris Botti and a host of other high profile musicians. She has received classical training and holds a bachelor’s degree in music.

Jan Struck, our Friday night Mistress of Ceremonies, hails from Appleton, Wisconsin. Jan shares that her elementary education was in a two- room Lutheran school. Her strong, Christian background led her to Valparaiso University where she received her theater degree. Jan’s “Life Story” includes being a mom, teaching school, working in administrative positions, and experiencing single parenthood after divorce. Her most recent “surprises” from a loving Creator have brought the joy of a second marriage and a combined family. She is delighted to have had a lifetime of bizarre experiences and an ability to see humor and
irony in her faith journey. In sharing that journey, she continues to leave laughing audiences in her wake. Faith in Christ, is her reason to make a “joyful noise unto God”!!