150th Anniversary Kick-Off Celebration September 19th

September 2, 2010  

Join us for Our Savior’s 150th Anniversary kick-off celebration on September 19th! Pastor Libby Howe will be our guest pastor for morning worship, Byron Blackmore will perform an Organ Recital at 4:00 pm. A reception will follow the recital in the Fellowship Hall. All are welcome!

Pastor Libby Howe serves as the Director for Evangelical Mission and the Assistant to the Bishop in the La Crosse Area synod of the ELCA. Prior to synod work she served as the pastor of De Soto and Freeman Lutheran Churches in De Soto and Ferryville, Wisconsin from 2002-2009. She attended seminary at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio, her home state. During seminary her field work took her to North Carolina for chaplaincy and Long Island, New York for internship and a residency in transformational ministry that focused on stewardship, evangelism, and youth ministry. These experiences serve her well in her work for the synod as she helps new ministries develop and old ministries stay lively. She loves working with people who are energetic and passionate for Jesus and is delighted to be a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran which she describes as “one of the synod’s most grace-filled, welcoming and generous
congregations.”

Byron L. Blackmore, a Flint, Michigan native, is organist at Crown of Life Lutheran Church, Sun City West, Arizona. In 1997 he moved to Sun City West after 32 years as Organist-Director of Music at Our Savior’s, where his annual organ recitals became a La Crosse tradition. From 1965-1990, he taught applied organ at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. He was Organist-Director of Music at Grace United Methodist Church, Decatur, Illinois, from 1960-1965. Mr. Blackmore received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University. His graduate work in organ performance continued at Syracuse University, where he studied with Arthur Poister, and at the University of Illinois as a student of Jerald Hamilton. Byron and Mary Lou Blackmore have three children, Rachel, Joel and Neil.