Mr. Weinlaeder

On Sunday, April 28th, 2013, many gathered to celebrate Mr. Ken Weinlaeder's life of ministry in Lutheran schools.  He retired from RCLS in December.  I was privileged to be invited to speak at his celebration due to the unique and important roles he has played in my life.  This is what I had to say...

I am honored to have this opportunity to speak today.  Mr. Weinlaeder has had such a profound impact on my life that I wonder how I can justly speak of him in just a few minutes.

Mr. Weinlaeder was my 7-8th grade teacher at Immanuel Lutheran School in Plainview and that's when I first got to know him.  It was then that he began to ingrain "Ken-isms" into my vocabulary.  Those who have had Mr. Weinlaeder as a teacher know of what I am speaking.  The most memorable Ken-ism for many of us had to do with the fair.  One of us would whine, "That's not fair!" to which Mr. Weinlaeder would invariably respond, "The fair's in August."

He had this amazing ability as a teacher to help even the most thick-headed of us learn difficult things, like math, diagraming sentences, or not to chew gum in class.  We learned alliteration in the form of 25 sentences if we needed a rebuke.

Those of us in his first class at Immanuel were groomed to play ping pong in the Olympics, and I'm convinced that if we were all to get together today, we could still race around that table playing Around the World; but it may not be pretty.

You see, Mr. Weinlaeder was a challenging teacher.  He could be downright scary!  But he played and had so much fun with us telling funny stories and jokes and torturing us with his puns.  We worked hard and laughed a lot.

The only thing that seemed to knock Mr. Weinlaeder off balance was pre-schoolers.  Once when some in our class had to hang out with the pre-schoolers because their teacher, Mrs. Mussell, became sick, we had a rambunctious kid who called Mr. Weinlaeder, "Zero Nose."  We were all at a loss as to what to do with a little person who was undaunted by his authority!

Mr. Weinlaeder shone the light of Christ in such a way that he made us seekers of that light.  There were quite a few of us who chose a life of service to Christ.  In some way, God used Mr. Weinlaeder to inspire us to go in that direction.

I remember how in college I needed a place to student teach and Ken advocated for me to be able to do that student teaching at RCLS.  I cannot even express to you all how it touched me to have someone show confidence in my heart and ability like he did.  He ultimately made it possible for me to graduate college and teach a number of years in Lutheran schools.

I got to ride back and forth from Plainview to RCLS with Ken.  On one of the earliest days, he had to look at me and say, "You know, you can call me Ken."  So, I did; but I think I blushed every time I said his first name for a month because it seemed so strange!

I remember one day on our trip, I was talking to him about my concern about what heaven would be like.  Ken told me, "Heaven will either be all that you hope for, or it will be even better."  I will never forget those words and how I've shared them with countless students.

Eventually I got to be on staff at RCLS with Ken.  Doing ministry side-by-side with Ken was one of the greatest privileges I've ever had.  This is a man whose heart and vision is for the Lord--100%.  His enthusiasm for the Gospel is contagious.  He brings so much joy to life's journey with all of his mischief-making.

Those of us who have had the honor of being partners in ministry with Ken know that he has the wisdom of Solomon.  We have all come to him with our broken pieces, broken plans, and sometimes even our broken hearts.  He seemed to intuitively know when to be still, when to speak, and what exactly, to say.  Even now, when I am faced with an important decision, I wonder what Ken would think.

I get to stand here uniquely as one of Ken's past students, his mentee, his former colleague, and the proud parent of one of his former students.  Through all of these roles, Ken has been a father figure to me.  Even more so, he has been, and will always be, one of my dearest friends.

I can never adequately demonstrate the love and admiration that my heart contains for Ken Weinlaeder.  And I know that I am just one of many, right?  If he has touched your life with the love of Christ, please stand now.

You see that, Mr. Weinlaeder?  We are the harvest of your ministry work.  Thank you for showing us Jesus!