New Pastor at Grace!

By the work of the Holy Spirit, the members of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church voted unanimously on Sunday to call The Rev. Alexander Zuber as the 21st pastor of Grace! Thanks be to God! Pastor Alex is a lifelong Lutheran and a son of the Virginia Synod. He grew up in Roanoke and earned his Bachelor of Science in Public Health Education from James Madison University before enrolling at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, he pioneered the Co-Op model of seminary education, serving the Stony Man Lutheran Parish in Luray, Virginia, for three years while completing his studies.  He was then called to Stony Man as their pastor after his ordination in 2017. Pastor Alex also served as an interim pastor at Good Shepherd, Lexington, before being called to Muhlenberg Lutheran Church in Harrisonburg, where he has served as the Associate Pastor since 2019, overseeing youth and young adult ministry, as well as a vibrant Lutheran Campus Ministry program.   Pastor Alex will begin his ministry with Grace on July 6, with his first Sunday in worship being July 12.  Please join us in prayers of gratitude for the hard work of our Call Committee and Congregation Council, as well as prayers for a smooth transition time for all! We look forward to a new chapter in our life together beginning this July!

A Word From Our Incoming Pastor

Dear family of faith at Grace, What a joy and privilege it is to greet you now as your new pastor (or at least very soon to be)! I am truly humbled and honored by the unanimous decision to call me into ministry among you at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, and I am delighted to accept God’s call made known through you! For 133 years, Grace has provided a vibrant witness to God’s grace and love in the Waynesboro community, and I am deeply grateful that you have entrusted me to steward that witness with you and carry Christ’s hope into the future.  I look forward to the opportunity to get to know each of you as we settle into the rhythms of congregational life. I have notified the Muhlenberg community that my final Sunday with them will be June 14th, after which I will lead our high school youth to Kairos at Roanoke College, and my ministry at Muhlenberg will officially conclude on June 26.  I plan to take a short time after this to rest, organize myself as best I can, and then begin my ministry with you on July 6th.  Our first official Sunday in worship together will be July 12th! I give thanks to God for drawing us together, and for the faithful work of the Call Committee and Congregation Council. The Holy Spirit has been moving through this process and through these leaders. I believe God’s words through the prophet Isaiah are echoing into our own time: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” God is certainly up to something at Grace! God has made a way and is doing a new thing! I can’t wait to see what the future holds as we continue to be a community of servants sharing in the word and work of Jesus!

In Christ’s Hope,

Pastor Alex Zuber