A faithful legacy
Submitted by Alice Benson
The Luther Rose, a symbol of Lutheranism, is presented in stained glass at the historic Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gettysburg,* Pennsylvania, home of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.
Their daughter was impressed by their faithful lives. Rain, shine or snowstorm, taking the street car when needed from the home they purchased in 1923 in NW D.C., Mabel and George Emch never missed a week’s worship and valued active church service.
Daughter Eleanor saw her parents teach Sunday school, make clothes for families in New Guinea, organize building funds, and participate in call committees among other needed responsibilities over the years. Eleanor and her brother grew up involved in church life as well, starting with Luther League and Bible camp at Camp Letters, then remaining engaged with Lutheran congregations their entire lives.
After the death of George in 1957 and Mabel in 1982, the family looked back and noticed the couple’s interest in education and support of seminarians. Congregations used to pay for their members to attend seminary, and Mabel and George cared about helping new pastors avoid debt. They wanted to support seminarians so they could focus on making the Gospel relevant to the world we live in independent of social acceptability or modern trends.
Through advanced planning, Eleanor arranged for her parents’ love of the Lord to live on not only in the lives of their family and the lives of those they touched, but also through an endowment fund for seminary support. The Mabel S. and George H. Emch Endowment Fund for Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod Seminarian Support was established in 2012 to assist with books and other supplies. The synod’s Candidacy Committee will administrate the funds.
“Many people like to honor special loved ones in their lives through these types of ongoing memorial funds,” says Alice Benson, our synod’s ELCA Foundation Regional Gift Planner, who met with Eleanor Emch of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, Md. “If you’d like to learn about how this approach might work for you, contact me.” She can be reached at alice.benson
elca.org or 301-963-6570.
* Photo source: www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=3549