Rev. Harold Senkbeil – Celebrating 45 Years of Service to the Church

Transcript (edited for readability).

Enjoy the evening. Please, join us at the table. We always try to steal my wife away every now and then. So glad you can join us, and the children. It's fun. It just happened. It's always nice. We weren't sure that Mark Barnes was going to be able to get you out. Your brother insisted. It almost makes us wonder if there shouldn't be some panties here. We're waiting for our evening together, which she leaves as a panel conversation.

And we'd like to start out with Dr. Tomesh. I asked him what he's been up to lately. He is the chairman of our board of directors. There he is. I asked him what he's been up to lately, and he gave me a fourteen-page summary. So I select now a few items that I thought I could share. He says that he and his wife, Renata, have been running through the streets of their neighborhood. Now, that didn't sound too much. But then he explained: he has run every single day, 650 days of running, and Renata has run 475 days in a row. And that's extraordinary. I understand it is a mental illness. But as a result of their stunning performance, they both are now members of the Runners' Street International.

Running is for other people. I ran with myself on the dryer, and it just came out clean for free. Dr. Tomesh is a full professor from Concordia University Wisconsin, in radiology, and he also serves a Risen Savior in Random Lake, Wisconsin. And some of you may know that he owns a small winery, which makes him friendly. Psychologists love wine, you know. And he has recently released a new invention. No talk is about it. He appeared on the Canadian version of Shark Tank. I don't think I've seen it. And he's created this wonderful new invention, called QuickVin, which he tells me will be ready for Christmas giving. The invention allows you to open a bottle of wine, and never—I say never—find that it oxidizes, preserving the wine as if the bottle were never opened.

So given his acquaintance with wine, given the fact that he's ordained, I thought he should begin with a toast and then have an opening prayer. Dr. Tomesh, would you come here?

Greetings. They say that even when Jesus looked at the wine at the wedding at Cana, the water recognized Him and blushed. I love that phrase. Pastor Senkbeil, you are a pastor's pastor. I can't tell you how many times in private conversation your words have blessed me and my family. And in fact, that's true also of Beverly. As we stand here before you, I think of the text I have to preach on this Sunday from Luke 17, where we have the weight of millstones that hang around people's hearts and lives, and with the simplest of faith, we release them and throw those deepest, darkest things into the heart of the sea. And that's what you have done. You have shared with us at Doxology for years the art of being a pastor. So a pastor's pastor—what a joy it is to raise a toast to you.

Someone once said that God deals in wholesale in these matters, and we muck around in the retail, but I believe you have taught us all about the heart of God. And so, blessings in your future ministry, and I'd like to raise this glass in a toast to Pastor Harold Senkbeil in his faithfulness among us. Hear, hear.

Would you bow your heads with me as we say a prayer? Dear Father of mercies and God of all comfort, we come before You, knowing that You bless us with each day, and You've taught us to number our days. We thank You for the years of faithful service of Pastor Senkbeil, and we pray that the wine that he has shared with us in thought, and also in our ministry, and the bread of his reflection, would also strengthen us as we continue to serve You. We pray that You would bless this food to our use and us to Thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others, through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen. Good appetite. Thank you very much.

The plan for the evening is to have a meal. What a great idea. We've been hearing about joy and gladness throughout the afternoon, and now we're going to have an absolute bucketful of joy and gladness. The Wartburg center has asked that we begin with the head table to go on down and to begin the buffet. The buffet serves on both lines, both sides of the table, and we'll start with the head table, and then we'll begin with table one, table two, table three, table five. So as you see the line, you go down, help yourselves. And at the head table, would you make way? In fact, show us the way. Don't tell me that there are probably lots of clergy here this evening who will be able to provide me with absolution for the lies I've told for the last year and a half. It's just dreadful. So I'll probably see you all in church.

I have some guests to introduce to you this evening, but our first guest is going to be somebody who many of you know extremely well, the president of the seminary, to be exact, who has offered to provide some words of welcome and greeting, and perhaps an observation or two about the Reverend Dr. Harold Senkbeil: President Dale Meyer. Would you come forward, please?

In the category of lies that I'll need to confess on Sunday morning—Hal, on behalf of Concordia Seminary, our faculty, staff, students, alumni: congratulations on your 45 years in our Lord's service. I would also say congratulations on behalf of the Board of Regents. But this is kind of a funny deal, because Hal is the vice chairman of our Board of Regents. And at the last meeting, he had a motion that he insisted be approved, that the board would congratulate him on his upcoming 45 years. Dr. Walther said forced obedience is no obedience. And I will confess, that's my first sin in these remarks. He did not do that. But also, your fellow Regents congratulate you on admirable service.

You know, what can you say about Hal? I have gotten to know him best the last six years when he has served as a Regent. He has many attributes, but the one that surfaces in my mind is that he cares. He cares. Now, caring does not mean that you ignore problems. That's folly. And Hal doesn't ignore problems. He cares, and care does not mean that you evade tough issues that have to be faced—that would be cowardice, and that's not Hal. Care means that you have an empathy for where the other person is at. He took the golden rule to his heart, and he certainly does that, and you all know that as well or better than I do.

But empathy, you know, that can be a trait that God gave us when He created us. When the students come to campus, they have an orientation, and I tell them, the fact that you are here, the fact that you are entering on the ministry, or in the ministry, does not mean that you're any more sanctified than anybody else. God gave you a caring, empathetic personality. But Hal's got more than simply empathy for other people in their situation. I mean, he shows mercy. The Western understanding of mercy—excuse me for going professorial—the Western understanding of mercy is simply pity. But in the Bible, mercy is concrete acts of loving kindness that one person does to another. And mercy in the Bible, for you and I who follow our Lord Jesus Christ, means that we show specific concrete acts of loving kindness to other people, because that is what we have received from God in Jesus, and Hal does that. It's not just a personality trait that he cares for people, but Christ, who has been formed in him, shows in those acts of loving kindness. And founding Doxology is one of those acts of mercy that you have done. And the blessings are innumerable.

Hal is the way he is, not only because of personality, but especially because of the Christ who is in him. And about Jesus, the beautiful passage in Isaiah 42: a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench. Hal exhibits that love of the Savior in his life. In the hymn "Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spake," the poet puts these words into Jesus' lips: "My heart abounds in lowliness, my soul with love is glowing, and gracious words my lips express, with meekness overflowing." That's Hal, because Jesus lives in him. He cares. So we congratulate you. And your fellow Regents would congratulate you on this anniversary. We are blessed by you. Thank you. That's wonderful. Thank you.

There are some guests among us whom I would like to recognize and introduce. There are some people who would have loved to have been here and could not be here tonight—neither Hillary nor Donald were able to make it this evening, for which I am truly grateful. We do have other lovely people with us, however. I'd like to introduce you to Mrs. Carol Feuerhahn and her daughter, Catherine Muskopf, special friends of Doxology. Many of you know so very well Carol's late husband, Dr. Ron Feuerhahn, faithful confessor of Christ, who served as professor of historical theology on this campus, and also served as a member of Doxology's Board of Advisors. We're so pleased you could be with us. Would you stand for a moment, please?

Also, some thank-yous to friends from the International Center who have graced us with their presence. The Reverend Bart Day, whom you all know, of ONM, and the Reverend John Fale of OIM. It's a kind of neat way—ONM, OIM. It just happens, I don't know. Wonderful, wonderful pastors serving so many other pastors and church workers in what they do, here in national ministry and abroad in international ministry. Pastor Day, Pastor Fale, if you would stand, please, and be recognized. Thank you both for all you do for the church and all her people.

We have also with us Deaconess Dorothy Krans, director of LCMS Recognized Service Organizations, and Deaconess Grace Rao, director of Deaconess Ministry. Would you two stand for a moment, please? Two Concordia Seminary faculty members are with us: Dr. Rick Marrs, director of the M.Div. program and associate professor of practical theology, and Dr. Jeff Kloha, both provost and professor of exegetical theology, who was so very helpful to us as we planned this event. Would the two of you please stand?

It is with thanksgiving to God for His servant, the Reverend Dr. Harold Senkbeil, that we've gathered here this evening, with thanksgiving to God for his 45 years of faithful service as teacher, preacher, and servant in the office of the holy ministry. And he and his bride, Jane, have just recently celebrated 45 years of wedded bliss. So there's another anniversary that we celebrate: their 45 years of marriage. So I'm going to invite you to settle in, and we're going to have a panel conversation.

Yesterday afternoon, as one of our meetings began to close, I asked Tom—I said, "The panel, we haven't planned for the panel yet." He said, "Well, it'll be okay." I said, "I know." Keeping this event a secret required the collaboration of family and friends, so I want to thank all of you who have had a hand in the deceptions. The event schedule tells us that the panel should generally be held on the final day of an event, and Hal said to me, "Why would we do a panel on the first day of the event?" And I said, "Well, John Kleinig thought it was a good idea." And in a heartbeat, the man said, "Well, we'll make it work."

There has been a pilgrimage to the holy city by a number of people who would like to share some greetings on this special occasion, share some remembrances, some words of commendation. Among them is the Reverend Dr. Wilhelm Torgerson, known by most as Torgi. Torgi serves on Doxology's Board of Advisors, and much of his ministry has been in the independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany. He was the rector for Lutherstadt, the International Lutheran Welcome Center in Wittenberg, until his retirement in 2009. And like most Lutheran pastors, he doesn't know what that word means. Retirement means re-tire—try again. And he did. He reported to me that he has traveled about 25,000 kilometers, about 15,000 miles, in the last three months alone, traveling between Odessa, where he now serves as rector and president of the seminary in Ukraine, and back again to St. Catharines in Ontario. Let the record show that he and Hal were seminary classmates. And Dr. Torgerson will bring us some greetings from President Robert Bugbee of Lutheran Church–Canada, and perhaps some remembrances of his own. Please help me welcome Torgi. If you would come forward, please.

Reverend fathers in Christ, brothers and sisters. I was going to start out by saying, when I was in the midst of my ministry, most of which of course took place in Germany for 36 years, even though it was planned for only two years—I told one of the young pastors there, when I became Propst of East Germany, "Well, in the Missouri Synod, I had some rather important classmates." Dale Meyer is one of my classmates at the senior college, as was Dean Wenthe, and I mentioned to this young man that one is a seminary president, the other one is a seminary president, and if I remember correctly, Jerry Kieschnick was a year ahead of us at the Springfield seminary. And this young man looked at me and said, "Well, at least they made something of their lives." So I tried to catch up by retiring. And now I'm teaching at the seminary in St. Catharines.

Tom Winger asked me to bring his cordial greetings to you. I canceled all my classes today and tomorrow just to be with all of you today, and I'm delighted to be here. And also, this last year, I've been serving in Odessa in Ukraine for our mission church there, which is supported by Lutheran Church–Canada, which brings me to a clause. Our bishop in Winnipeg, Dr. Bugbee, sends his cordial and kind regards and thanks you for all the work that you've been doing in confessional Lutheranism, not only here in the Missouri Synod, but actually worldwide. And the high point of your career will no doubt be your service in Canada this year. So we look forward—the Central District is looking forward to seeing you there.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you that in our last year at the Springfield seminary, Harry and I lived in the same building, on the top floor of a building, and in the basement of the building, and we thought it really ought to be very classy, and we called it Melanchthon House, which kind of tells you what kind of theology Harry is into. God's blessings to all of you. It's great to be here. Thank you.

Let's just guess that the most scintillating stories from the Reverend Dr. Torgerson may be accessed during the reception this evening. That's just a hunch.

I would like to introduce you to one of the members of Doxology's Collegium, and you'll learn a little bit more about that as the evening goes along. The Collegium is a group of Lutheran pastors, identified by Doxology as special servants who assist Doxology in areas of teaching and preaching. One of the fellows, the Reverend Bryan Wolfmueller, is the pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado. And he's recently authored the well-reviewed book—five stars on Amazon—Has American Christianity Failed?, which would have been available to you this evening had it not sold out. Sorry. So you will be able to go online and find that later. Some of you may be familiar with his radio show, Table Talk. And in honor of Harold Senkbeil's 45 years in the ministry, we've invited Pastor Wolfmueller to bring his occasionally irreverent, rarely irrelevant, and entirely mischievous perspective to the topic of joy and ministry. Pastor Wolfmueller.

So let's get this joke over with, because I've got a lot of serious points I want to make tonight. There was a lady who got onto a bus. This is true. And the bus driver says to her, "That is the ugliest baby I've ever seen." And she couldn't believe it. And she was so upset, and she walks to the back of the bus and sits down next to this guy, and he can tell that she's bothered. And so he says, "What's wrong? I see you're troubled." "I am troubled." "Well, what happened?" "Well, that bus driver, he insulted me." And the man said, "That's not right. He's a public servant, he's a bus driver. He should be kind to you." And she says, "That's right. I think I'm gonna go up there and give him a piece of my mind." And he says, "That's a good idea. I'll hold your monkey for you."

Now, to the serious things. I'm here to suggest improvements to the Doxology curriculum. And the reason is, because a couple of months ago, we were having, as a Collegium, a dinner, and Jane was there, and she started telling stories about Dr. Senkbeil, and I realized on that occasion, between spitting out food and choking on it and all the laughs, that Dr. Senkbeil was holding back on a lot of pastoral expertise that he had, and he was not revealing to us in Doxology.

So, for example, Jane told the story of a woman, or a couple, who was a part of one of their first congregations, and the husband liked to come to town to play cards. But the wife didn't have anything to do, so he would drop her off at the parsonage, and she would come and sit and stay for maybe the entire day, and visit with Jane while she was trying to do other things. And there was a particular occasion—I want you to try to imagine this—that Jane was sitting there in the kitchen, and this woman was sitting across from her at the table, and behind her was the kitchen door with a window. And as they're talking, and Jane is trying to work, she sees Hal's face come into the window like this. And he looks down into the kitchen and sees this woman there, and his eyes light up, and then immediately, whoosh, he disappeared. And Jane said he was crawling across the lawn, back to his office, like this. So a couple of hours later, he calls and says, "Is the coast clear?"—to which Jane's response was, "You coward." Which should form the basis for a new class called "Mark and Avoid: Tactical Avoidance Techniques for Pastors." Are you ready, Miss Damon? This is a new class.

Another occasion was their eighth anniversary, in which Dr. Senkbeil gave Jane a card, which read very affectionately, "Thanks for seven wonderful years." And Jane said, "Seven? We've been married for eight years." And Dr. Senkbeil, without missing a beat, says, "Well, maybe one of them wasn't that wonderful." That's true, right? Which, I think, forms the basis of a class called "Thinking on Your Feet," or perhaps "The Devil Uses Your Being Right."

There was another occasion. This was an installation at a congregation, when Hal was getting ready for the procession, and Jane was standing back with him, and all of a sudden, as he goes forward, she notices that sticking to the back of his surplice was a pair of her own underwear. Which Jane noticed and quickly removed. "I'll take that," she said. Now, I've been trying to imagine how things in the universe would be different if that didn't happen. But now, this is for Jane. Jane was telling me this story, and she said, "Could you imagine? I would have been mortified. People would have known that I didn't iron his surplice." This should form the foundation of a class called "Public Versus Private Life: Some Practical Suggestions."

Now, by the way, I was able to talk to Jane about this sort of thing, and Jane said at the end, she said, "I wouldn't change it for a minute. And I'd do it all over again without even thinking about it." And Hal, you know how much she loves you. It's really quite wonderful.

Now, I don't just have suggestions for the curriculum from Jane. I also have some suggestions myself. I had you at the seminary when you were teaching there at Fort Wayne, when you referred to yourself as the fat man on a red scooter. Do you remember those days? And I went back and I found some notes from class. Pastor, Congregation, and Synod was a class that we have, and I have here in my hand a quiz on the Missouri Synod handbook. Now, I got a 70% on this quiz, which is probably pretty lucky. It was true-false, so anything over a 50 was gonna be just luck. But I think that the bylaws have changed, and so some of these questions that I got wrong might actually be right now. And I realized that this was an important moment, a formative moment in my seminary career, and I think it's one of the deficiencies of Doxology that we do not spend enough time reviewing the bylaws of the Synod.

And so I think that we should consider, for example, having Dr. Kleinig teach an insight on the seven councils of joy in the bylaws. Receptive spirituality, or oratio, tentatio, meditatio, and bylaw-tio, which fits. Or—and this would be a revision to your own work—sanctification: the bylaws in action. That's good. I gotta like that one. Dr. Yahnke, your section on depression, dysfunction, and despair can remain exactly the same. And I'm hoping to work with Cantor Phil Magnus for a new chant tone so that we can bring some of the bylaws into our worship. Legalisticus, or Pharisaicus, would be the tone. But we haven't done that, so we'll just have to work with one of the tones that we have.

"1.4.4.a. Each governing board shall, to the extent of its jurisdiction between conventions and subject to the advice or direction from any other appropriate board that has been given authority by these bylaws or by convention resolution: 1.4.8.1, determine general operating policies and maintain a policy manual; 1.4.8.2, approve program budgets; 1.4.8.3, allocate resources for such programs; 1.4.8.4, monitor program performance; and 1.4.8.5, coordinate the administration of convention resolutions."

Now, I was supposed to talk about joy and ministry. It's an incredible thing to me that the Bible talks not only about human joy, but even about angelic joy. And today, since it's St. Michael's Day, you know, the Lord Jesus teaches that the angels in heaven have joy over one sinner who repents, more than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. It's a stunning thing to think about. In 45 years of work and ministry, you have brought joy to sinners, joy to families, joy to congregations, joy to pastors and their families, and even joy to the angels, and joy to Jesus. So, if you still have some booze left: to 44 wonderful years—maybe one wasn't so wonderful—to the Reverend Dr. Pastor Harold Senkbeil, to God be the glory.

It's always a risk when the reverend local owner is left untethered at a microphone. Wonderful. Thank you very much. I understand that 20% of the people in the United States are currently helped by mental health medications. And they're really scary, because the other 80% clearly need some of it. Thank you. That is wonderful.

Also among us today is the Reverend Eric Skovgaard, serving as administrative pastor. And he is at Elm Grove Lutheran Church in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, and serves the South Wisconsin District as a circuit visitor, and beginning last year, he became one of the newest members of Doxology's board of directors. Pastor Skovgaard followed Hal Senkbeil's steps after Hal had left Elm Grove and had been called away to be an associate professor at Concordia Theological Seminary. He knows the community, loves the parish, the school, and the people to whom Hal ministered from 1987 to 2002. And he brings greetings from the parish.

I feel a little bit like—I'm normally born to follow after the talk that was just given. But for all of those who have been through the Doxology program, I'm wondering if this means anything to you. And it's actually more toward Dr. Yahnke: "My winkel isn't working." No? If you've heard that joke before. Okay. All right.

I do bring greetings from Elm Grove Lutheran. Many people said, "Be sure to say hi, and all the best." Earlier this summer, we had an opportunity to invite Dr. Senkbeil back into the pulpit to preach. And he wanted to preach on the occasion of the congregation celebrating his anniversary. So we've been thinking about it for a little while. And I do want to extend a greeting again to you from everybody back in the office and the congregation.

I have in my hand here proof that you have been making an impact on people's lives in ways that you did not anticipate, perhaps, or expect. It's a small book here that's got coffee stains on it. It has dog-eared pages, and there's little Post-it notes in here that I used over the course of many months as a Bible study, as a mission developer in California. And in the summer of 2003, I got a call to come to Elm Grove Lutheran, and when I got the paperwork in the mail, I kept asking myself, "Elm Grove Lutheran—why do I know that name?" And it's because of this book that I had been using in the mission congregation there in California: Where in the World Is God? It's a collection of sermons from Dr. Senkbeil that Dr. Yahnke had condensed into Bible study format. And this was formative for me as well as for the small mission congregation there in California, Ascension Lutheran Church. And it was just brilliant. And to think that 13 years ago, when I was using this as a Bible study, that I would be able to come and serve in the place where you had served as administrative pastor, and that I would then one day be on the board of directors for Doxology, which is an incredibly humbling experience. I'm just a simple parish pastor, but I have grown enormously from your example and your influence. So thank you. Thank you very much.

I was letting my ears linger on the lovely phrase "sermons I had condensed into Bible studies." I spent one afternoon with Harold Senkbeil in his office, and he was going through files of sermons. I had gone into his office maybe a week or two earlier, and I said, "You know, I think it's absolutely outrageous"—and he appeared somewhat concerned—"What?" "You preach a sermon once. Long before social media kept sermons alive forever and ever, you preach a sermon once, and it's gone, it's lost. Other people could profit from you." "No, I don't think so." "Really? Well, what would you do?" And so he gave me buckets of sermons, and I'm so delighted people have found his preaching, albeit in condensed form, to be a blessing to them. So if any of you need to have sermons condensed, let me know. I have a knack for this. No, not too long—just too many syllables, that's all.

There are quite a few other people who would have liked to have been here, and other clergymen who wanted to bring some greetings to you as well, but couldn't be here, but they've shared some of their greetings with us via video. Half of the International Center is in Wittenberg somewhere with President Harrison, going through churches as if there's a fire sale somewhere. And so we do have some greetings that we would like to share with the whole group. Josh, could you kick those off for us?

Good evening. And congratulations to you, Hal, for 45 years in the office of the ministry. Today, the 29th, is also the 25th anniversary of my service in the office. I was ordained 25 years ago in a little parish in Iowa. And right from the beginning, I was reading your books about worship and the Christian life, and they had a very profound effect on me. And you were wise before your years. I think you've always had gray hair, right, since the time you were eight or ten years old. Mine's becoming gray over time, being earned by synodical service. But you were wise beyond your years then, and you continue to be wise beyond your years even now.

We traveled a lot together on the Real Life Worship conference team. We got to know each other very well. Through the years, you served in various ways, and quite a while ago, when I was executive director of Lutheran World Relief, you came to me asking for a little startup grant and some help with a project you and Bev were thinking about called Doxology. It was a pleasure to be able to help that little thing get off the ground, and wow, how it has turned out to be such a grand blessing to so very many pastors and their spouses and congregations and elders and others. And so, I don't know how to say it any better than Paul said it to the Philippians: I give thanks to my God every time I remember you, and always, in making my prayers for you, praying for you with joy. And so it is—what joy it's been to know you. God bless you, Hal, and give you another 45 years. Thanks.

Good evening to each of you. It's a delight to be with you as you celebrate the ministry of the Reverend Dr. Harold Senkbeil, even though we cannot be with you in person. We want to relay greetings. I'm Larry Myers. I'm one of the pastors at Elm Grove Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, where Dr. Senkbeil served from 1986 until May of 2002. He came to Elm Grove Lutheran as the successor to the Reverend Dr. Victor Bartling. Pastor Bartling served at Elm Grove Lutheran for nearly 40 years. And so when Pastor Senkbeil came from Madison, Wisconsin, it was a difficult role into which he stepped. But he served well.

It was our intention that both of the current living pastors at Elm Grove Lutheran who served with Dr. Senkbeil would have a chance to address you and share some thoughts this evening, but that became impossible. The other pastor who is still living, who served with Dr. Senkbeil, is the Reverend Carl Egloff. Both Pastor Egloff and I are in agreement that our greatest joy in serving with Hal Senkbeil was the collegiality that we enjoyed with him.

In the year 2001, I was on Air Force Reserve duty in the Pentagon on 9/11. And I was on duty on that fateful day in 2001 when the plane struck the Pentagon. I'd gone to D.C. with the intent of only staying for six days. The chief of chaplains of the Air Force Chaplain Service simply announced, "God provides, and God has provided Chaplain Myers. Do you want to volunteer to stay, or do I have to mobilize you and keep you here even beyond your retirement date next year?" I knew that impending within the next number of months, Harold Senkbeil was going to receive a call to teach at our seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I also knew that if I stayed for many months in Washington, D.C., that Harold Senkbeil loved this congregation so much that he would use my absence as an excuse not even to consider a call to the faculty at the Fort Wayne seminary. So I struck a deal with them, and I served for 60 days in volunteer status. Not many months later, the call did come to the Reverend Dr. Harold L. Senkbeil, which he accepted, and he moved on then to a six-year teaching stint at Fort Wayne, Indiana.

It was both my delight, and that of Pastor Carl Egloff, to have the privilege of working with Dr. Senkbeil. As I indicated, it was the collegiality, his concern for us, working together as partners in ministry, that made it an absolute delight for each one of us to work with him. And so, on this evening, when you celebrate with him and celebrate his gifts to the church and celebrate with him even his 45th wedding anniversary, which was earlier this month, we rejoice with you. We give thanks with you to Almighty God for the gifts of this man, and pray that the Lord of the church will continue to use him for many, many years in the future. You have our prayers and our blessings, Dr. Senkbeil, and we hope that you enjoy this evening. Thank you for being who you are.

Dear Professor Dr. Senkbeil. What a joy it has been to know you, and when you come and teach our Lutheran pastors here in the South African capital, at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane, in Pretoria, South Africa, with your great team of experts, Professor Beverly Yahnke and Dr. John Kleinig. Now you're celebrating your 45th anniversary of your ordination and serving in the pastoral office of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, together with you and many others, we rejoice in remembering all the great, wonderful, lovely, and merciful things our Lord, our God, has done through you and your ministries throughout these decades. Although at some distance away, we still give thanks with you to Him, our Lord, who has blessed this holy church, His most lovely, beautiful bride, with such an outstanding and faithful teacher, pastor, professor, missionary, bishop, doctor of theology, and pastoral carer like you. For sure, His grace and mercy is great and most deserving of praise and worship. May the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, continue to bless and keep you in the true faith, as you serve His people, and especially His pastors across the globe, faithfully, with the precious treasures of the holy Gospel. He who started the good work will surely complete it, for He is faithful, and His goodness and mercy endure forever and ever. Amen.

Dear Dr. Senkbeil, beloved father in God. Allow me to express my most cordial congratulations and greetings on your 45th anniversary in ministry. When I was a school student, I was not very strong in mathematics, but when I think of you, I cannot help but think of some math. 45 years—it's one quarter of the whole history, the whole history of the existence of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. So your ministry covers one quarter of the history of your church. It's—wow, just wow. And thank you for not being an idle person. You have been pastoring the congregations, and you have been teaching in the seminary, and I got to know you as a leader, as one of the leaders in Doxology. And Doxology is something very important for us, especially because during the Soviet period, the whole theological education and instruction of pastors was destroyed. But we could renew, somehow, the theological part of it, but spiritual care, or pastoral care—that which you are teaching in Doxology—has always been a big deficit we were struggling with. And when I come back to some mathematics, then I think: the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the church in Latvia have been now in partnership for 15 years. 15 years—it's one third of your period of ministry. So I'm glad and happy that we have been in partnership for so long, and that we have benefited in Latvia so greatly from you. May God give you health and strength and courage and strong faith, and I hope to see you often here in the U.S. or in Latvia. God bless you.

Pastor Senkbeil, what a delight it is to be able to bring greetings to you from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana—from your faculty colleagues, from our staff, from our board of regents, from all of the community here, who think of you so highly and rejoice always along with you as you celebrate 45 years in the office of pastor. You've been a blessing to this seminary. You've been a blessing to our church. Most of all, because of your faithful confession and preaching of Christ. In 45 years, you have shown yourself to be a true servant, and we count ourselves honored to have served alongside of you. May God continue to bless you in your service, as we and you together go forward with the word of Christ upon our lips, sharing it with a world in need. God bless you and your family always.

Here ends the video. Genuine sentiments of affection and respect and honor from your colleagues around the world. Well deserved, and they were eager to share them with you tonight.

We've heard from some clergy. We've not heard from any family members yet. And as you might suspect, family members always have the real scoop. Family members speak the truth in love, whether we like it or not, usually. And I would like to introduce you to Hal's eldest son, Michael Senkbeil, who today in some circles is also known, I believe, as Michael Moss—is that correct? Or maybe he's celebrated this Sunday in some parishes, the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, so your timing is excellent. And it was only appropriate that we asked Mike, the eldest son of Hal and Jane, to talk with us tonight. Mike's siblings—I asked to stand, Kate, if you would stand, and Tim, if you would stand. This represents the Senkbeil clan, minus Mike. There they are. All right. Thank you.

And I asked Mike if he would be willing to offer some behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Senkbeil family. Mike is a partner at ChoiceTech Business Advisors, where he manages the support center and network integration teams. He is really skilled when it comes to things like network infrastructure and IT support and aspects of business technology that simply frighten me. Mike and his wife, Virginia, have two children and live in Wisconsin. Please welcome Mike Senkbeil.

Okay, thank you very much. Forgive my nervousness. I am living proof that savvy speaking skills are not genetically inherited. So I've been asked to continue the roast. Is that correct? Okay. I've enjoyed watching Dad squirm over here. Recognition and attention have never been a motivation for him. So thank you, everybody.

So, we love Dad very much and are so glad to be here to join everyone in celebrating 45 years in his ministry. And yes, we, the family, do have the inside scoop. So I thought I'd start off by answering the question, which probably is not burning in anyone's mind: Is this the TV-movie stereotype of a two-faced preacher—you know, the one that is all smiles on Sunday in the congregation, and then rules with an iron fist and moral superiority at home? You won't be surprised that that's not the case. I'd have to say you'd be hard pressed to find a better example of consistent, selfless love as a father and husband. So, no punchline in that one.

But he's not perfect. You may be surprised to hear that right after taking the call to Elm Grove, he had two speeding tickets in the first month after we moved there. So that was entertaining for us. We didn't hear about that till later, of course. I don't remember if it was when I started driving or what, but us three kids, we certainly tested Dad's patience, just like any other family. I don't think we've ever purposely tried to make him mad, but looking back at some of our teenage moments, that are always a test for a parent—when we just drove them absolutely crazy—the worst you would ever lash out with would be, "You're driving me batty." That's about as bad as he would ever get. And we're regular teenagers, just like any. So, I can't say the same for my teenagers.

But you can't hide the true limits of self-control when you smash your thumb with a hammer in the garage. I've worked on projects with him when I was a kid. Or you bang your head on a cupboard. The worst we'd ever hear from Dad would be, "Oh, Nelly." So, as genuine as they come. So I'm pretty sure that phrase, and many other qualities we love about Dad, came from his childhood on the farm. As the oldest child and only son, he was it. Grandpa counted on him for hard work all the time, and he took that same work ethic into school, seminary, his parishes, his teaching, his writing, and his family. So we, the Senkbeil family, join with everybody here, and everybody who couldn't be here—we're just a small sampling of lives that have been touched by my dad. So we're thankful to him and to God for calling him to this life's work. Thank you.

I hate domestic violence. This poor man has tears in his eyes, having been bludgeoned with love by his son. That's a good thing.

We have another Collegium fellow who would like to share some impressions with you. The Reverend Dr. Lucas Woodford has served Zion Lutheran Church in Mayer, Minnesota, since 2005. He's earned his doctorate of ministry from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, and published the book Great Commission, Great Confusion, or Great Confession?, which has been an excellent resource for pastors and laity alike in examining the mission of the holy Christian church. Dr. Woodford is a fellow in Doxology's Collegium, and, as unlikely as it may seem, he grew up in Willmar, Minnesota, which is remarkably near Hal Senkbeil's boyhood home, a couple stone throws away. And Pastor Woodford is going to introduce us to Harold Senkbeil the pastor, the teacher, the mentor.

The saying is trustworthy: if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. St. Paul wrote these words to the young pastor Timothy, and since those words were written, countless other men have taken up the mantle of that noble task. Called and ordained into the office of overseer in Christ's church, such men are yoked to Christ and His unending love for all for whom He shed His precious blood. Now, the occasion of this gathering is in celebration of one who aspired to that noble task, and by God's grace is now into his 45th year of service to our Lord. Now, I count it a high honor to mark this milestone in the life and service of my dear friend, Hal Senkbeil. He is a Seelsorger in the highest order, passionately taking to heart our Lord's command to feed His lambs and nourish His sheep. For four and a half decades, Hal has faithfully shepherded and fervently delivered the gifts of Christ's forgiveness, life, and salvation to those entrusted to his care. And to this day, he remains infatuated with the care of souls.

Of the many things that you hear about him this evening, this beloved man, my comments will be specifically of him as a dearly loved pastor, mentor, and teacher. In fact, it can be said that as Paul was to Timothy, so Hal is to so countless many brothers and sons in the ministry. Dear to his heart are the souls entrusted with the office of overseer. As a Doxology fellow, I can tell you, I regularly see this firsthand. And as a sinner, I can tell you I have regularly received that care by him firsthand. The great compassion and care this man offers, in the name and stead of Christ, is a joy to receive.

Now, he and I first became acquainted with one another through the shared joy of the noble task of ministry. At the time, he was a veteran pastor and professor at Concordia Theological Seminary, and I was a young pastor seeking to better myself with an advanced degree. Soon after my classes ended, I enrolled in Doxology, where I grew even better acquainted with him, and our bond of friendship flourished. As life would have it, our relationship deepened permanently with the shared grief of similar tragic family losses. Since then, we've grown to share a deep fraternal bond, that's not very common nowadays. Perhaps it can be best expressed by the bond shared between the elder Augustine and the younger Alypius. They were confidants, peers, and intellectual sparring partners, but they also provided mutual care and conversation to one another. In his Confessions, Augustine referred to Alypius as fratrem cordis mei, my heart's brother. And that phrase exemplifies our mutual relationship today.

Now, to me, he serves as pastor, teacher, mentor, and, of course, a cherished friend. As a pastor, he carries in him the heart of Christ. And though he's ready to love me, and any other wretched sinner, with the fullness of his own heart, he lavishes us with the unending wellspring of Christ's love and mercy. And though he is willing to shed tears of compassion over our heartaches, and all the heartaches of the sheep in his fold, he compassionately delivers the remission of sins in the name and stead of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is a beloved teacher, whose classic and refined teaching is met with his equally elegant pedagogy. He's a scholar and a pastor who relishes the opportunity to give of himself, to mentor others in humble fashion. Listening with an astute ear and a pastoral heart, he walks alongside countless brothers and sons in the ministry, always treating us as equals, and skillfully pointing us to the Good Shepherd, and inviting us just to sit a while, like a sheepdog focused on his master, so that we might fix our eyes on Christ, and find solace and safekeeping in Him. Now, as did John the Baptist, so Hal will quickly say, "I must decrease, and He must increase." And that, my friend, is why you are a cherished pastor, teacher, and mentor. You love in the name of Christ. You act in the name of Christ. You teach in the name of Christ. And you come alongside of us in the name of Christ.

Hal and I both share a joy of poetry. To close, I would like to honor you and our Lord with a poem. It is titled "The Saying Is Trustworthy."

The saying is trustworthy. The office of overseer is a noble task given by our Lord. He sends forth pastors so that sinners may be restored. "As the Father has sent Me," says Jesus, "so now I send you." Their words spoken at your ordination, and they still see you through.

The saying is trustworthy. Preach the word. Always be ready, in season and out. 45 years as Pastor Senkbeil, you've journeyed about, feeding Christ's lambs and tending His unruly sheep. Through your mouth, Christ says, "This flock I do keep."

The saying is trustworthy. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, which includes pastors who need Christ, the solid rock. Our Lord gave some to be prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. You, my dear friend, are one of these precious and divinely sent preachers.

The saying is trustworthy. Shepherd the church of God, which Christ purchased with His own precious blood. You are a man of faithfulness, as you bless, teach, and administer the baptismal flood. Says our Lord, "Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." Build up the brothers. Well done, good and faithful servant. You are a blessing to us and so many others.

The saying is trustworthy. When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. By faith, Christ is your own, and has made you a part of His eternal story. So until that day, your life shall remain a high doxology, as you praise and pray to Father, Son, and Spirit three. The saying is trustworthy. Thank you very much.

As unlikely as it seems, there is yet another Collegium fellow. The Reverend Mark Barnes has been pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas, since 1987, and serves the Texas District as their third vice president. We're pleased to have Mark serve as a fellow, and he's going to help us tell the Senkbeils' story through the lens of Hal Senkbeil's work to develop the Doxology Collegium.

Some of you are old enough to remember a TV show, which Peter Graves was the star of—and this is long before Tom Cruise—and the theme song went, "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom." So that's what it felt like when we tried to coax Hal over to the Wartburg dining hall after the afternoon session, wondering if our ruse, Operation Deception, would really work. I think when he came in here, it was pretty much proven that it worked. So I thank those involved, including my son-in-law, John David Zisky, who gathered some other fourth-year seminarians, who were rapt with attention about Doxology.

I don't know how many of you have been to Dyersville, Iowa, in West Central Iowa, to the Field of Dreams. Have you? Picked up a ball there, played a little catch? That's just a great place, if you love baseball, and I grew up living baseball. "If you build it, they will come." I don't think that's what Hal and Bev said, lo those few years ago, about what became Doxology. But what I would say is true, that if God builds it, they will come, and they have come, and they continue to come. Pastors mostly, lay people at certain events, pastors' wives. And I am one of those who came to Doxology, and was and continue to be greatly blessed by what I have learned, and what I have seen modeled by my brother in Christ.

A little bit about what the Collegium is, and how it developed. I'm not going to try to name dates, because I don't think those are that important, but simply that Doxology had grown wonderfully. She continued to blossom and impact the church. And so some imagining happened, of, "Is it just two people? Are there others?" I know there was already a board of directors and a board of advisors, but the official beginning, actually, is barely two years ago—it backs up a little bit to that, approximately three years ago, when I think the seven of us received letters of invitation. All I remember is that at a certain event in Kansas City, shortly before that, Hal had taken me aside briefly, and said, "We're looking at doing this thing, and I think we might call it a Collegium," and whatever he said to me. And he said, "You'll receive an invitation if we do this." And I passed him my card when we were in the session a little bit later, and I had one word on it, and it said, "Why?" And I'm not the only one. I think all seven of us have asked "Why?" at different times, for various reasons, but mostly because it is a tremendous honor and privilege to be entrusted with becoming partners as part of Doxology.

And that is what I would say, and that is what we have learned, that they consider us somewhat of a sounding board at times, a think tank, I call it that—I'm not sure they do—a resource so that Doxology has hands-on, active parish pastors involved in its work, in its visibility. We've been reminded—we were reminded again this week—that we have to be careful to make sure we change the pronoun, we don't say "they," we say "we," when we speak of Doxology. We are honored and privileged to serve as partners with Hal and Bev in this way. And that, I would say, is a sign of what we give thanks for, that, as Lucas said so well, he has—we call him our father at times, but we call him our brother, and we are blessed that he has given us that honor and that privilege that they together have. We thank God for the ways in which we have served and will continue to serve, but we thank God, with all of you, for a brother in Christ, Harold, for his ministry, for their marriage, and for all the ways in which they have given glory to Christ, to His name, and for the sake of His kingdom.

Dr. John Kleinig requires no introduction. But I would just be rude and thoughtless. His brilliant writing and teaching have been an encouragement to each of us, an inestimable gift to the church in these gray and latter days. His books, his videos, have provided for the church a legacy of wisdom that will last for decades to come. Most of you are quite familiar with the Leviticus commentary. We have 800 pounds of them on the book table. Should you want a signed copy, we can arrange for that. And all of us delight in the news that he has finished his work on the Hebrews commentary, which, Deo volente, will be available sometime in the next year. As you know, he continues to lecture regularly. He is an invited speaker throughout the world. And he is a professor emeritus at Luther Seminary in Adelaide, where he taught since 1982. He loves to fish, read, write, and holiday with his wife. He knows his friend, Harold Senkbeil, very well. And I would like to invite him forward to share some of his impressions about this man with whom he has teamed in so many ways, particularly with Doxology, to help pastors in these gray and latter days. Dr. Kleinig.

Hal? What goes around comes around. Revenge is sweet. Serves you right. Three years ago, I was in Hal's boat, and now I've been able to be part of the turning of the tables. Revenge. The good news is, as you've heard, that Hal's been married to Jane for—what, 45 years? My maths are not very good. The bad news is that Jane had to put up with Hal for 35 years. You asked me why, 35 years? No, it's not because I'm bad at maths. It's because he's been away from home for at least 10 years.

I don't know if you've noticed that Hal, like me, has gray hair. And we both reached a remarkably old age with quite a little bit of hair up the top. I mean, it's thinning out a bit, but still it's a pretty good crop, isn't it? You must admit. But I don't know whether you've noticed that Hal has a mannerism, which is—and occasionally, he gets the comb out and goes like that. Oh, that's your excuse. It's just vanity—vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Now, since I have the license, I mean, I have the advanced absolution, I'd like to tell you what lies behind this mannerism. And I don't know whether you noticed, in some of those early photographs, the hair, like that—yeah, it looked pretty good. Well, what's the secret of that crop of hair? Not on your shoulders, but that used to be, when we were young, didn't it? You know, you have your hair down here. But, you know, it looks rather good, doesn't it? Okay, well, it goes back—excuse me. It goes back to the first parish.

Now, please, none of you are allowed to tell anybody else about this. This is in camera. They were in Michigan, was it? No, no, no, it was Minnesota. I get these states mixed up. It's all United States, it's all one and the same thing. Hal, quite secretly, was involved in ecumenical activities. Oh, bad, bad, bad. And he got very friendly with a Catholic priest. And so, instead of them going to various meetings separately, they would travel together.

So there was this one evening when they were coming home from a boring ecumenical meeting—I mean, how boring can you get? Church meetings are bad enough. And this priest had a heavy foot. And he was haring along down one of the back roads through the bush. No, it's not bushes. What do you have in Minnesota? Sticks. Sticks, yes, there's sticks in Minnesota. And all of a sudden, there in the headlights was a hare. Dong, dong, bang into the front of the car. The priest—you know what hares are? Not this, but the animals. A hare went straight into the headlights, but it didn't smash the headlights. The priest slammed his foot on the brakes, and then reversed, went to the front of the car, and picked up the hare by its ears, brought it there into the headlights, shook it a bit, dropped it on the area in front of the car, which was lit by the headlights.

Then Hal was puzzled, because the guy went to the boot. No, that's Australian. What's a boot? It's a trunk—a trunk. I mean, what a name for the back of a car. I mean, who puts a trunk, attaches a trunk to a car? It's what you put into the back of the car. Now, where was I? The guy went to the back of the car and got out a lovely little black case. You know, the kind of cases that priests used to have, and even some Lutheran pastors used to have years ago—you know, those lovely big black things. This is advertising: "I'm a priest, I'm a pastor, watch out, trouble's coming." So he got out this case and put it on the bonnet. Do you have bonnets on American cars? No, it's not ladies' wear, at least I hope not. Okay, he put it on the bonnet, opened it up, and got out a bottle of something, he unscrewed the bottle, and went down, picked the hare up by the ears again, and sprinkled it on the hare. And lo and behold, the hare got up on its hindquarters and did a wiggle. Now, it was quite interesting—a wiggle, shook his ears, and trotted off.

And Hal, you see, he knows something about Catholic theology, as well as a bit of Lutheran theology. So, when the priest came back, Hal said, "Don't tell me, but I know what it was that you put on the hare." And the priest says, "Yeah, what? What do you reckon it was?" And Hal said—and this is good, you know, it just shows how clued he is—he said, "Holy water." The priest said, "No—hair restorer." And Hal said, since his hair was already beginning to thin, "Well then, I'll have some of that." Lies, lies, lies.

What can I say that does justice to you, Hal, for me and many others here this evening? I can do that best by the words of St. Paul from 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 9: "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in the presence of God because of you?" How can we thank God enough for all the joy that we have? Thanks to you for the joy, and thanks to Jane for the joy. I can't think of Hal without thinking of you and the joy that I've had in getting to know you both. I'd like to thank you personally for the immensely significant part that you've played in my life since 1998. I finally looked it up and checked it down, from the first time I was in Brookfield, and the years since then. So that's not quite as long as Jane has had to put up with you. But I've had the joy of knowing you and working with you in Doxology.

I've thought a lot about what's your special gift. What's your special gift? What's the charisma that the Holy Spirit has given you? I think it is that you have the rare and wonderful gift of encouragement, in the full New Testament sense of the word. You, to me, are a second Barnabas. Do you remember Barnabas, the guy in the book of Acts? Barnabas means son of encouragement. You're a son of encouragement. And remember the description about Barnabas in Acts? He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith—working backward: faith first, Holy Spirit second, goodness third. You remember that he was a farmer. Barnabas was, like Hal, he comes from the farm. You can take the boy away from the farm, but you can never take the farm out of the boy. Hal's living proof of that. He was a farmer. He sold his farm in order to become a preacher.

And then, as a wonderful man who encouraged people, he was a go-between. He brought people together in a remarkable way, and in a very significant way: he introduced Paul to the apostles in Jerusalem. And he introduced Paul to the church in Antioch. But what I love most of all about Barnabas was the way he treated Mark. Now, Mark was a young seminarian who failed dismally, as most of us young pastors do. Paul recognized his potential and took him on the first missionary journey, but you remember what happened? He got homesick and went back to Mum. And for Paul, okay, one strike, and then you're out. Next missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas wanted to go together. Barnabas wanted to take Mark. Paul says, "No way, José. He's unreliable." But what did Barnabas do? He gave Mark a second chance. He retrieved a broken pastor, set him back on his feet, and not just retrieved him—but because of that, we have the Gospel of Mark, and the very significant ministry of this man. Now, if I think of you, Hal, that's what you've done to many brothers in the ministry. Picked them up, by the grace of God, encouraged them to get back on their feet again, and many of you here are living testimony to this.

Now, what can I say quietly? I've said far too much already. Okay, so if I reckon—I want to speak now with the full authority of my office as a pastor, in the name of Jesus. Now, if Jesus were an Australian, He'd say, "Good on you, mate." I mean, that's the highest accolade that we Aussies can give to anybody. "Good on you." Okay, since that speaking in tongues, and I think even our Lord doesn't understand the nuances of Australian English, and the irony in Australian English, and how the highest praise is given most discreetly—so I'll go to the New Testament, instead of Australian English, and Greek words, and say, in the name of Jesus, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Master." Now and forever. Thank you ever so much.

This is fun. It becomes even more fun when we move beyond words to gifts. Dr. Tomesh tells me that he has a gift he had hoped to give earlier, but will give now. Dr. Tomesh, would you come back aboard?

Real quick. Hal, here are three bottles of wine, with a special label called "In Celebration of Harold Senkbeil and Doxology." These are yours, and when the wine is gone, I have more labels. And we wonder why he's such a popular pastor.

Anniversaries are also a time for gift giving to the church, and Doxology has commissioned a hymn text by the Reverend Stephen Starke, with music by Cantor Philip Magness. Stephen, are you here? You're here. And I think the Cantor may be at the organ. Philip, are you here? Would you stand for us, please, Pastor Starke? And he's written a wonderful hymn, and we're going to be able to hear that this evening in evening prayer. This wonderful man, pastor at St. John Amelith Lutheran Church, has penned over 175 hymns, is the recipient of two honorary doctorates, and he has shared his gifts of hymnody with the church again and again and again. Thank you so much, and we will enjoy this evening the wonderful, wonderful text you've written for us.

This evening, during the prayer office, we won't simply hear the hymn played, but something very special will happen. It will be introduced by Cantor Magness, and we'll have Catherine Muskopf on violin. We will have Michael Senkbeil on cello, and we will have Kate, the wonderful Kate, a soprano, who will sing the first verse as a solo for us. So Kate Senkbeil will be singing. So we'll have a little bit of a family celebration, with a wonderful new hymn text to look forward to.

Gifts to the church are lovely, but gifts to the honoree are even better. Pastor Timothy Pauls is pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Boise, Idaho. And he has served in various capacities as author of three books, countless articles for a variety of publications, and he served as a school administrator, a camp board director, and member of the editorial staff of Higher Things. Pastor Pauls is a fellow in the Doxology Collegium as well, and he and Mark Pierce have been working tirelessly of late to make the nearly impossible happen. I'd like to invite—where's Pastor Pauls—if you and Pastor Pierce would step forward, please. Thank you, Bev, but this time I will keep my remarks remarkably condensed. Pastor Pierce.

Good evening, everyone. Although I don't know most of you, I can assure you that no one is more perplexed than I am, up here talking right now, than Professor Senkbeil himself. In fact, since people went to such great lengths to keep tonight a complete surprise, I breathed a mental sigh of relief when earlier today, at lunch, Professor Senkbeil saw me and said, "Oh, are you here for Doxology?" And, not to embarrass him too much, but for a second, he actually had a senior moment and forgot my last name. Which assured me that what's about to happen is nowhere on his radar. Although, I suppose if anyone should be embarrassed by that, it's me.

Now, if you'll indulge me for just the next moment or two, I'll quickly explain what I'm doing here, and tell you ever so briefly how I have been impacted by Professor Senkbeil. For me, like many people, my first encounter with him was through one of his books, Dying to Live. But perhaps, unlike most people, I first read it as a non-Lutheran. I attended Concordia University in Irvine, California, as an undergraduate student simply to play basketball, because I'm a giant. And I can honestly say that if you would have asked me on my first day of college, "What's a Lutheran?" I would have said, "I don't know." Well, the Concordias make their students take courses in theology, and my professors did a good enough job of answering my questions that I kept signing up for their classes. And it was in one of those classes that we were assigned to read Dying to Live, which proved to be my first exposure to a distinctly Lutheran theology. I didn't agree with everything I read, especially on the sacraments, but the beautiful simplicity of that book caused me to have a moment of clarity about the nature of sin and the effects of Christ's death. And it prompted me to do further research.

Fast forward a few years, and not only did I become a confessional Lutheran, but I decided to be a theology teacher at a Lutheran high school. And that brought me to Professor Senkbeil's own backyard in the Milwaukee area. But he left for seminary about the same time I arrived in Wisconsin. Between his reputation in that area and the feedback from my friends at seminary who had him in class, it was clear that he was the real deal, and he could do more than just write books. I actually had someone tell me he is a Jedi master, like Yoda. At the constant urging of my own pastors, I enrolled in Fort Wayne seminary in 2007, and my best friend gave me some very sagacious advice: take every single class you can from Professor Senkbeil. So I did. And I had the privilege of being in his last ever homiletics course, in which he gave nuggets of wisdom that I still use when crafting my sermons today.

And then fast forward a few more years, and I started a Ph.D. program before being ordained, which has been great in many ways, but none of it has prepared me for parish ministry like my seminary training, and a big part of that training was what I learned from Professor Senkbeil. I went back and reviewed all of my notes from him, and I have more appreciation for him than ever before, now that I myself have been called to this noble task, to the office of overseer. And I am learning in the school of experience just how valuable his words and wisdom were and are.

So, all this put into my head the idea that somehow this man should be honored for all that he's done for the sake of Christ's church. After reaching out, I found many others who shared the same sentiment. Now, I'd like to conclude by reading a short portion from a previously unreleased book that is most appropriate for this occasion.

"Any attempt to assess the results of a faithful pastor's work will invariably fall short, not least when that pastor is Harold L. Senkbeil. Whether through books, articles, lectures, presentations, or word and sacrament ministry in the parish, he has provided care and cure for countless souls. His diagnosis and treatment of the sinful condition has enabled many to take courage in the sufficient work and comforting presence of Christ Jesus. Oftentimes, the recipients of such healing have been pastors themselves. This, coupled with his formation of future pastors at seminary, has allowed Senkbeil's remedial influence and restorative techniques to extend exponentially beyond himself. While he would be the first to insist that he has done nothing extraordinary, nothing more than what his calling requires—namely, performing the rudimentary task of delivering Christ and the forgiveness of sins and teaching others to do likewise—those who have benefited from and admired Hal's service can scarcely express their gratitude enough. Accordingly, some 20 authors, two church musicians, and one painter have attempted to honor his legacy, and express a modicum of thanks for all of his work as Seelsorger, with the presentation tonight of this Festschrift."

To borrow from the language of Luther, we discovered along the way that putting together a Festschrift is no bunny dance. There were tensions with contributors along the way. Stephen and Phil wanted to title the tune of the hymn "Epistle." I held out for "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." I lost. The timeline for this Festschrift was quite compressed. However, Beverly Yahnke did tell us that the preparations for the 46th anniversary celebration were somewhat less grandiose in style and structure. And so we hasten for this night, and thus we owe a debt of gratitude to the writers and contributors of this book, who worked in a very small frame of time to put together some excellent essays in honor of Hal. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to a small army of copy editors and proofreaders who devoted immense amounts of time in the past few months to make this volume possible. Nevertheless, despite our best efforts, we're not quite where we wanted to be today. There are, of course, the demands of family, the vagaries of life, that pesky day job you know so well, the absence of instantaneously available sabbaticals. We were hoping to have copies of the final edition available for you all here this evening, but that was not to be.

So we do have this evening 20 or so advance review copies. Please see Mark Pierce if you're interested, if you would like to pick up an advance review copy tonight. You will sign your name, promise to read it and give a review—we prefer favorable, by the way. If you're a contributor, it might be in poor taste to be one of those people.

And at this point, then, it would be my privilege to invite forward Hal Senkbeil, as he makes the long walk forward. Hal is known now and then to quote William Shakespeare, as he did at the start of his devotion for the Doxology Collegium at the start of this very week. And so I'd like to return the favor this day. I first read Dying to Live when it came out, in my first parish in Idaho. And shortly thereafter, I saw the movie adaptation of the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing, and I've since read the play as well. In the midst of this really rather silly play, a bride comes to the altar for her marriage, a virtuous bride waiting for her bridegroom, and at the very altar she is betrayed by evil men. She is slandered, accused of being unfaithful. She is shamed, threatened with death, and she is left crumpled in a heap on the ground. In the midst of the pandemonium, and the chaos, it's the friar, who is going to preside over the wedding, who approaches her, and gently says, "Come, lady, die to live. This wedding day perhaps is but prolonged. Have patience and endure." And I actually sent that quote to Pastor Senkbeil, in thanks for his book, Dying to Live. I want to ask him if he remembers that letter from a pastor in Idaho not so many years ago. But many times since that day, I have thought of how Hal, as the mendicant before God, now rich in the grace of Christ, for the past 45 years, has said to Christ's bride, "Come, lady, die to live. The wedding day is coming. Have patience and endure." And for the past few years now, with Doxology, he has said to many brothers and sons, to their wives and to many others, in these gray and latter days: take courage. Hal, thank you.

And Hal, for you—not yet. There are a few words, yes. Oh, no. You may have to sit by your bride. Grace upon grace. Grace upon grace. It's a great book. I've read it.

There's yet another gift. I should mention, however, that occasionally, talking with the good Reverend Pauls about the success and the progress of the Festschrift, on one occasion I said, "How's it going? Do you think it'll be ready? Do you think it'll be done in time? Do you think you'll make it?" And he said, quietly, "The road to Hal is paved with good intentions." And then he assured me there was a 70% chance that perhaps 50% of it could be done. So, just an extraordinary gift of love and work and time from the people. And I also heard from Pastor Pauls that teams of editors simply heard, "This is for Hal Senkbeil," and I said, "How can we help?" So that's a good thing.

But there are moments ahead for one more gift, and the Reverend David Fleming, who has served as senior pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, since 1993, and has been active throughout conferences and gatherings of the LCMS. Pastor Fleming is also one of the members of Doxology's Collegium, and has been chosen to present this final gift, because his hair color matches most closely that of our evening's honoree, and because he was instrumental in the selection of the gift. Now, Pastor Fleming.

Collegium fellows, come on up, please. First Corinthians 12, verse 18: "But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose." And you know, there are some really beautiful parts, some beautiful members in the body. You've been so dear to me now since 1988, when you preached at Bill Bloom's installation at St. Paul's in West Allis, Wisconsin. You encouraged us to be stewards of the mysteries of God. And, Jane, you've been such an encourager to us, a beautiful part of the body.

Now, one of the things we've gotten to hear as members of the Collegium is—we get to be chaplains at the gathering after gathering after gathering, we get to hear you read something, and would you mind reading it? I think I've got it right here for you. It's only two paragraphs, and none of us ever cry when you read it. We don't. We cry every time you read it, but would you mind? Thanks. For those of you who don't know the context, this is about a sheepdog contest. And the lady who wrote this is saying that it is the perfect illustration of what pastors do.

"That dog was this docile and faithful agent of another mind. He used his whole intelligence and initiative, but always in obedience to his master's directive will, and was ever prompt at self-effacement. The little mountain sheep he had to deal with were amazingly tiresome, as expert in doubling and twisting and going the wrong way as any naughty little boy. The dog went steadily on with it. His tail never ceased to wag. What did that mean? It meant that his relation to the shepherd was the center of his life. And because of that, he enjoyed doing his job with the sheep. He did not bother about the trouble, nor did he get discouraged with the apparent results. The dog had transcended mere dogginess. His actions were dictated by something right beyond himself. He was the agent of the shepherd, working for something which was not his own, and the whole of which he could not grasp. It was just that. It was the source of the delightedness, the eagerness, and also the discipline with which he worked. Sheepdogs for Jesus."

So that explains the theme of the gift. This comes from Bev and all the Collegium, and was executed by Ed Riojas, who had the view repeatedly that he didn't have a thing done. That's why he kept stalling. It was done a long time ago. It's not like Fleming; he gets things done. So I apologize for making Dad look bad. But anyway, if we could. Oh, yeah. Thank you.

I was afraid this moment was gonna come. But I have to say something. I guess, first—does these gentlemen leave the podium? I'll remind them of the quote I had at the beginning of this week, of the St. Crispin's Day speech: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." These men are a great encouragement to me. And what a joy and privilege it is to work with them. Words do fail, and my son Mike pretty well, really accurately describes it. I don't take naturally to these kinds of things. Very, very awkward.

My first words of thanks are to my dear colleague and friend, Beverly Yahnke, who has remarkable stamina, unbelievable gifts, coupled with genuine, self-effacing humility. Without her, certainly this night wouldn't have happened, we know that for sure. But nothing resembling what we've been able to do in Doxology had ever taken place. So I owe her deep, deep gratitude, and many, many choice things. Can we all thank her, please?

God gives to us many, many gifts. And they begin with the most human of gifts, and that is His gifts of family and friends. I would literally not be here tonight without my bride, Jane. I'm astonished that she's here tonight. I cannot believe the effort it has taken her to be here tonight, and that alone is very precious to me. As we launched our journey together at Lake Yugi, that spring 45 years ago, and I said, "Will you be my wife?" And she was silent. "Well?" And she said, "Yes." And by God's grace, He has richly blessed us through these years. So thank you, sweetheart. I love you very much.

He has blessed us with these three wonderful people, our children, and their children after them. And He's given me the privilege of serving in this office, the ministry. And despite everything that's been said—it's a little like attending a funeral, and I hope that whoever preaches at my funeral does not bring any of this stuff into the sermon. But—a lady got on a bus, so…

I would like to linger and relish the moment, but aren't we on schedule tonight? Wait, she's the one that drives the boat, I'm getting the schedule down. Anyway, thanks to everyone who had a part in this, all the contributors—I think I'm going to read this book, actually—and all the folks who have put these things together, all the gifts, your presence here tonight. It humbles me and gives me joy. Indeed, you know, with St. Paul, I have nothing other to say than, "To me, less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given." I mean, quite literally, from the day of my ordination to this day, it's been a matter of putting one foot ahead of the other, by God's grace and mercy, and following in the path which our Lord has given us to walk in. And somehow surrounding us with people that have enabled us to come to this time and place.

It was in this very room, some years ago, 14 or so years ago, that I was honored graciously by the faculty of Concordia Seminary, with the honorary doctorate. And since then, I said, I'm kind of ecumenical in the Missouri Synod. I'm a graduate of both seminaries: one by works, together with Torgi, the Fort Wayne seminary, and the other by grace, St. Louis. But that certainly does not compare with the profound honor bestowed on me tonight. Words literally do fail me. So, all I can say is, thanks to you and praise to God, from whom all blessings flow. Indeed, these are the gray and latter days. And yet, we take courage. We do. Because we know who holds the future, who bids us follow Him, and who promises the victory: faithfulness unto death, which brings the crown of life. God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you.

Take the board. What a wonderful evening. What a wonderful opportunity to honor this man for whom we have both great respect and affection. And the evening concludes, as only it should, appropriately, in the chapel, giving thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gives gifts to us all, and to this man certainly. We will be singing the hymn tune "Epistle," with the dedication of the hymn being "To the glory of God, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Harold L. Senkbeil in the office of the holy ministry."

I think those who are preaching in tonight's service would like a little bit of a head start. And they have left. I see our Cantor is here. And he has gone as well. Philip Magness, Cantor extraordinaire. So if we might wander together over to the chapel, there will be a program awaiting you, and if you would please sit toward the front of the chapel, and gather together in thanksgiving to God for a wonderful night, and a wonderful servant. Thank you all for coming.