Christ The King Church Gathers In Celebration Around Its Departing Spiritual Leader

By Shannon Hicks

There were many tears as members of Christ the King left their worship service last Sunday morning. It was Pentecost Sunday, typically a day for rejoicing. While this year’s service was another opportunity to mark the end of the Easter season, it was also a day that marked a new chapter in the life of the church and its pastor. After 40 years of ordained service to the Lutheran church and just over 24 years as the pastor of Christ the King, the Reverend Gregory Just Wismar retired on Sunday, June 12.

Parishioners left their sanctuary and walked through the front doors of the Mt Pleasant Road church, where Pastor Wismar was waiting for them after having walked up the aisle from the sanctuary following the service’s choral benediction. With “Go My Children, with My Blessing” selected as the closing hymn of the morning, it was both a solemn and joyful group that shook hands, hugged and in many cases looked adoringly at the man who has led many of them for all of their life. For others, it was time to say Farewell and Good Luck to someone who has guided them spiritually for a quarter of a century.

Sunday’s service also included “Rejoice the Old, Embrace the New,” a work written by Pastor Wismar in 1988, sung as last weekend’s anthem by Diane (Schmidt) Wardenburg and MaryAnn (Weyer) Grogan, former students of Pastor Wismar and two of the church’s youth board members. It also incorporated “Lord Send Us Out in Peace” and “Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings,” both hymns with text that had been written by Pastor Wismar.

The Reverend Robert Harris served as the morning’s lector.

A churchwide BBQ was planned for Sunday afternoon, the culmination of a week that had opened with a special service on Monday, June 6, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Pastor Wismar’s ordination.

Nearly 250 guests were expected for Sunday’s late afternoon gathering, including Pastor James Keurulainen, the president of the New England District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS); Pastor Timothy Yeadon, first vice president of the district; members of Newtown’s clergy; and generations of parishioners, including a few of the church’s charter members.

Pastor Wismar’s calling has included service as assistant pastor for Immanuel Lutheran Church in Danbury (1971–72), and then pastor of St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Naugatuck (1972–78), Redeemer Lutheran Church in Cape Elizabeth, Maine (1978–83), Messiah Lutheran Church in Lynnfield, Mass. (1983–87) and, since May 24, 1987, Christ the King. When asked recently about his decision to retire he responded, simply, “It’s time.”

“There are a lot of things I want to do and enjoy,” he said recently, seated at the desk in his office of the building that has been his second home for years. Piles of paper and books were stacked everywhere, while framed documents and photos competed for space on the walls. The hallway leading into his office was filled with boxes ready for packing, and his office was in a general state of disarray.

“I want to enjoy the kids,” said the grandfather of 12 children (nine boys, three girls), ranging from age 3 to 12, as well as four grown children. “I want to be able to travel,” he added, which is no surprise.

Pastor Wismar has regularly led “Pastor’s Pilgrimage” trips that attract not only members of his own congregation but also residents of the area who have wanted to join him on sojourns that have taken him around the world during the past decade-plus.

The Wismars are headed back to Germany this week, in fact, just in time for another family reunion.

In July, Pastor Greg and his wife Priscilla, known as “Sissy,” will continue their travels, returning to Germany for a family reunion (he speaks German fluently) in Luechow, in northern Germany, as part of a family gathering that has been meeting every decade since the family’s benevolent association was chartered in 1401. In August the Wismars will head to England thanks to a generous gift the pastor was given by Christ the King members for his retirement. And then in November Pastor Wismar will lead his next pilgrimage, a nine-day return to The Holy Land.

 “It’s a good time for me to retire,” he said, returning to the question of why now. “This church is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so the new pastor will come in to that energy. We have had special events to celebrate that already, and special events will continue in the fall.”

Christ the King’s membership celebrated Homecoming Sunday on May 1, with visits from the church’s founding pastor, The Reverend James Ilten, and the Reverend Robert Schupul, another former pastor of Christ the King.

In February the church welcomed a pretour performance by Concordia College-New York Tour Choir. The concert was one of three major events planned for the church’s golden anniversary, and it included the premiere of a work, Lord Send Us Out In Peace, composed by Pastor Wismar. The month before that, the church kicked off 2011 with a weekend that began with a spaghetti dinner on Saturday, January 22, and continued through coffee hour featuring an oversize birthday the following morning.

Pastor Wismar was ordained into the Holy Ministry at Grace Christian Church in Akron, Ohio, on June 6, 1971. Forty years to that date, Christ the King hosted an evening commemorative service to celebrate that ordination. Eric A. Wismar, the son of Greg and Priscilla Wismar and the pastor of The Lutheran Church of Good Shepherd in New Fairfield, participated in the anniversary program.

Last month the students of the 2011 Confirmation class also celebrated their pastor, selecting hymns that had been written, in whole or art, “by our wonderful pastor,” they wrote as a group for the bulletin that accompanied their Service of Ascension & Witness on May 26.

“We want to honor all of his teaching and talents that bless our Confirmation class and all the classes for over the past two decades at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newtown,” their note continued. “To all of his Confirmands, he is proof of the fruits of the Spirit.”

Their pastor was touched by the gesture.

“It was very thoughtful of them to honor me like that,” he said recently.

Greg and Sissy Wismar have moved out of the parsonage owned by Christ the King, which is located adjacent to the church building at 85 Mt Pleasant Road and accessible via pathway through the woods.

“I will miss my daily walk to work,” said Pastor Wismar. “The walk around the pond allowed me to observe countless deer, raccoons, and geese with their families. There were seven baby geese this year.

“I will miss walking through the changing of the seasons.”

(In other milestone moments, Pastor Wismar also recently celebrated his 65th birthday.)

In addition to having a number of his musical works published, highlights of Pastor Wismar’s service in Newtown have included the installation and dedication in 1988 of the church’s pipe organ, which he called “a dream come true.” That was a highlight that came after a near catastrophe, when the organ’s pipes were delivered during a snowstorm and the truck became stuck during the delivery.

The church has also, under his leadership, dedicated a new gathering hall built onto the original church building. There have also been surprise moments, including the day a pilot whose small plane was running out of gas safely landed his aircraft in the back parking lot of Christ the King.

“That was memorable,” he said with a laugh.

There was what he calls “our Hollywood moment,” when a film crew spent a few days at the church in the spring of 2008 to film a few scenes for the feature film The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee.

One Confirmation class was celebrated during a downpour that was so strong “we could hardly hear ourselves,” and during one July before the church had its air-conditioning installed there was a worship service during a “phenomenally hot day when we were following a medieval theme,” he recalled.

“There have been lots of little moments,” he said. “I’ve had hundreds of them.”

One of his most cherished, however, may have come following the August 2006 publication of The Lutheran Service Book. Pastor Wismar was a contributor and editor of the hymnal, a ten-year undertaking by the Commission on Worship of the Lutheran Church, one of four major commissions of which the pastor was a member during his career.

“This is my work of love,” he said, holding up a copy of the volume he played a large part in. “I’ve been through every page, and I have loved it.”

Looking Forward

Christ the King has yet to name its next spiritual leader, although a Call Committee has been set up to find that person.

“We were fortunate that Pastor Wismar gave us plenty of notice [about his plans to retire],” said Christ the King Administrative Assistant Linda Gollenberg. “He told us this was coming about three years ago, in fact.

“There is no panic right now. Things are right on schedule,” she continued. The 11-person committee was down to four names as of late last month. “Things are on schedule, and we are anticipating the process will continue to go smoothly,” she added.

The committee hopes to make its decision by the middle of June, and Pastor Wismar has some gentle advice for his successor.

“Get good maps,” he said with all seriousness. “Much of our congregation lives outside of town, including Bridgewater, Redding, and even Middlebury. We have people in a fairly wide radius.

“Continue to build this community,” he also offered. “Not everyone sees each other in the post office, or at the market. This,” he said, indicating the sacred building around him, “is their place to always see each other. Be sure to continue that.”

Pastor Wismar was also quick to point out that his support staff — including Mrs Gollenberg, who has been his assistant for more than a decade; Elaine Perry, who has been the parish musician for more than 35 years; and Sexton Gary Secola, who has served Christ the King for more than 15 years, to name just a few — “brings blessings to all people,” including himself. Sissy has also been a source of support.

“I could not have done what I have done without my wife,” he said of the woman to whom he married 42 years ago this month. “She shared her musical and organizational skills, while holding down a career, all with grace and charm.”

Dr Wismar — the pastor, who earned a master’s of divinity from Concordia Seminary in 1971 and a master of science in education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1977, continued his education by earning a doctorate of ministry from Hartford Seminary in 1990 — and his wife have both entered retirement, in fact. Mrs Wismar retired on April 29 after 16 years with People’s United Bank.

“It’s an interesting contrast,” Pastor Wismar said. “Sissy retired after 16 years of working for People’s and they haven’t contacted her since then. I have, meanwhile, already promised to preach for my son for two weekends [this summer] when he and his family do some of their own traveling.”

The Wismars have purchased a condo within Heritage Village in neighboring Southbury.

“We’re young enough to enjoy the resources they have,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the pools, to playing tennis, to walking my faithful dog.

“Twenty-five years is a long time,” he reflected. “It’s time for some new ideas, some new blood. We have loved Newtown, the community. We’re not that far away.”

Pastor Wismar does not expect his life will slow down too much just because he is stepping away from Christ the King and the church on a full-time basis. He does a lot of writing, including a regular column for The Lutheran Witness, a magazine published by The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod; and not surprisingly for a man who enjoys writing music and has been directly involved with the musical selections for his worship services for the past 24 years, he is a member of Connecticut Master Chorale.

“Being a retired pastor is like being a grandparent,” he said. “You don’t have all the responsibilities, and you still have lots of golden moments. The relationships continue.”

Visit www.NewtownBee.com to see a slideshow of photos from the conclusion of Sunday’s service (and one photo of his office while he was in the packing-up stage).