A silent legacy

Herb Owens died in October.

Most folks reading this have no idea who Herb Owens is. The ones who do, likely, don't read blogs or even own a computer for that matter.

But, if not for Herb Owens, I doubt very much you would be reading this.

Herb Owens was the founding pastor of South Lansing Christian Church.

More than sixty years ago, Herb and Doris Owens came to Lansing to visit some friends. While they were here, church planter Virgil Felton took them for a drive in southeast Lansing. He suggested that Lansing needed a church and that Brother Herb needed to plant that church. Several months later, in September 1952, that is exactly what happened. South Lansing Christian Church was born.

Yesterday Ruth Doty, one of our church's matriarchs, mentioned that Herb's Christmas card was returned to sender. She asked me to Google him and see what I could learn. Here is his obituary:

Herbert Arthur Owens, age 93, died Sunday September 28, 2014. A native of Indiana, Mr. Owens was the son of the late Earl and Minnie Jones Owens. Mr. Owens was a retired Minister and was a member of Galilee Christian Church. Funeral services will be held Friday October 3, 2014 at 4:00pm in the Smith Memory Chapel. Rev. Bruce Quiggle will officiate. Burial will follow in Indiana at a later date. Survivors include Nieces; Elizabeth (Bruce) Quiggle and Janet (Bob) Jewell; great nephews; Robert Bruce Quiggle and John Arthur Quiggle; sister-in-law; Nola Faye Isley; and other nieces and nephews.

No obituary can tell the full tale of someone's life. No doubt this was read at Brother Herb's funeral; his friends and family told stories of his faithfulness and leadership in the Church of Christ.

I wonder if his nieces and nephews knew that he planted a church in Lansing, Michigan? I wonder if they know that thousands of people have come to Christ in the last sixty-four years because of the church he planted? I wonder if they know that there are hundreds (thousands?) of other believers in India, Haiti, Chile, and the Dominican Republic because he planted South Lansing Christian Church?

By now Herb has had plenty of time to hang with Jesus. He's checked in with the patriarchs of the faith and the apostles who propagated it. He has caught up with Doc Doty, Bob Palmer and the rest of his SLCC friends who have gone before him. Hopefully, by the time I arrive at that same destination, Herb will have a few minutes for me. I'd like to say "Thank you!" And, if you've been blessed by the ministry of the church he founded, I'm guessing you would too.

Walter Neuenschwander to join SLCC staff

After a three-month search, South Lansing Christian Church has extended a call to Walter Neuenschwander to become the Minister to Millennials at South Lansing Christian Church. He will begin his ministry here on January 5, 2015.

While Walter and his wife, Jamie, are originally from Michigan and attended Great Lakes Christian College and Michigan State University, for the past five years the Neuenschwanders have served on staff at Lane Christian Church just outside of Clinton, Illinois. During that time they each completed degrees at Lincoln Christian Seminary with Walter earning a Master of Divinity degree and Jamie completing a degree in counseling. The Neuenschwanders have two children. Their daughter, Adelaide, is three and their son, Simeon, is one year old.

Walter’s hiring expresses our church’s continued Next Generation commitment to helping high school and college students write the next chapters in their faith stories. According to Senior Minister, Frank Weller, “70% of young adults leave the church when they leave high school. When asked their faith preference, 30% of people – the fasting growing segment of people in our community – are the ‘nones,’ who say they have no faith preference. Our church is committed to confronting those trends by seeing that our students’ faith stories are grounded, enabling them to navigate the challenges of transitioning to adulthood. We are excited that Walter and Jamie are going to be part of the team helping us do that!” Walter’s ministry will focus on helping high school students and young adults navigate the critical transition between high school and whatever comes next by providing leadership for Modified, SLCC’s high school ministry, and by fostering a network of college / career-age small groups.

Walter was selected from a field of very highly qualified applicants with the help of a diverse search team made up of South Lansing Christian Church’s paid and volunteer staff, elders, parents and students, without whom we would not have been able to accomplish this challenging assignment in such a short time. 

Walter will be joining paid staff members Frank Weller, Wally Lowman, Josh Antonopulos, and Jennifer Batdorff. He will also be partnering with the volunteer staff of Modified, our high school ministry, as well as our dynamic team of elders, deacons and ministry leaders as we help people write the next chapters in their faith stories by creating environments where they can seek, study and serve God.

Seek | Study | Serve