VINELAND, NJ 03/06/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/PASTOR’S PORTRAIT: Pastor Gary N. Stiegler, 72, is an ordained pastor at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Vineland, NJ. Pastor Stiegler is a former owner of a sales and marketing communications company that provided sales and marketing services to Fortune 500 companies. He is a graduate from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia with a Master of Divinity Degree. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/06/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/LETTER OF CALL: On June 28, 2009, Pastor Stiegler receives this letter of call and is called to serve as a pastor at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Vineland, NJ. In August 2009, he accepts the call from the church. Before he became the pastor at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, he served as the pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lakewood, NJ. In June 2001, he was called and ordained at Immanuel Lutheran Church, where he served for eight years. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/06/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/BUILDING BOATS: This is a model boat that Pastor Stielger built. In his spare time, Pastor Steigler enjoys his hobby of building model boats. These boats are modeled after historic ships from the Delaware and Chesapeake area. This ship is called Swift. It is a Virginia pilot boat from the early 19th century. The Swift became the foundation for the famed Baltimore clippers that would help define the US Navy as a major Naval Power. Pastor Stielger grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and spent his summers growing up on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/07/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/PRAYERS AND ROTARIANS: Pastor Stiegler is saying a prayer, blessing the food at a Rotary Luncheon on Tuesday. As a pastor, he must think on his feet when it comes to blessing food, people, places, etc. In an interview with me, he said it is easy to think on his feet because “God speaks through [him].” Pastor Stiegler is an active member and chaplain for the Vineland Rotary Club. The Vineland Rotary Club is “an organization of Vineland-area business and professional men and women, [who] stand united to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in our local community and the world.” (vinelandrotary.com) -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/07/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/MOTHER-IN-LAW AND NURSING HOME VISITS: Pastor Stiegler is visiting his mother-in-law, Eleanor Purvis, 91, at the Baker House nursing home on Tuesday. As a pastor, he often visits nursing homes to comfort and talk to the nursing home patients. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/08/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/BREAD AND BROTH: Pastor Stiegler and his wife, Jan Purvis Stiegler, enjoy bread and bowls of soup in the church fellowship hall Wednesday evening. Bread and Broth is a yearly church tradition that is practiced during the Lenten season. A select group of different church members make homemade soup for each Wednesday evening during Lent. Every Bread and Broth gathering is followed by a short church service given by the pastor with each service “counting down” the days until Easter. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/08/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/WEDNESDAY SERVICE: Pastor Stiegler says a Lenten prayer in front of the alter Wednesday night. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/12/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/SIGN OF PEACE: Pastor Stiegler shakes hand with a little boy from the congregation during the “sign of peace” portion of the service Sunday morning. The children in the congregation love to shake hands and high-five the pastor. When sharing a sign of peace in the church, members of the congregation, including the pastor, walk around and shake hands with their fellow church members. This ritual allows the church members to show they have respect for one another and don’t hold grudges within the sanctuary. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/12/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/SERMONS AND SPIRITS: Pastor Stiegler delivers his sermon to the congregation Sunday morning. In an interview with me, Pastor Stiegler said a typical Sunday sermon takes about a week to write. But, now that it is Lent, he must prepare two sermons each week, one for Sunday morning and one for Wednesday evening. This gives him about three days to write each sermon. -photo by Georgia I. SalvarynVINELAND, NJ 03/07/2017 ASSIGNMENT #03/FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: Pastor Stiegler smiles at a nursing home patient at Baker House on Tuesday. After 16 years of serving God as an ordained pastor, Pastor Stiegler is planning on retiring in June 2017. After he retires, he will be moving to Salisbury, Maryland to be closer to his children and grandchildren in that area. He and his wife Jan have three adult children and nine grandchildren. -photo by Georgia I. Salvaryn
Georgia Iris Salvaryn