It may seem strange to write a Welcome to someone who has been serving his congregation for several years already, but this weekend we finally got to ordain Nicholaus Chove as a Minister of Word and Sacrament. That is well worth celebrating!

Members of two communities that are served by Pr. Chove gathered together for this bilingual ordination service. Several pastors also were welcomed into the hospitality of Community of Hope Lutheran in Fort Worth, where Nicholaus has been called as pastor. He has been serving even longer with the Umoja International Chapel of Fort Worth, a Swahili speaking worshiping community. Nicholaus went through his seminary training in the TEEM program (Theological Education for Emerging Ministries) at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in California. This has been a long partnership with great support.

The Rev. Kyle Rouze, Dean if the Metroplex West Conference, also participated as newly ordained Pr. Chove was installed as pastor of Community of Hope.

It was truly a great celebration with participation by many pastors. Another noteworthy mention is that of Pr. Jeff Bergeron, who has been a clergy mentor to Nicholaus during his seminary training and who will continue as his first call mentor. Developing leaders and pastors is most definitely a team effort!