Parish Nursing

The LCMS parish nurse district representatives met at Concordia University, Mequon, WI, May 27 & 28. The theme was Looking Back to Look Forward.

There were 21 of the 35 district reps in attendance (see photo) as well as 3 diaconal nurses from Finland. From synod those in attendance were: Rev. John Fale; our soon to be former director, Carol Broemmer; and soon to be new director of LCMS Health Ministries, Maggie Karner.

Looking back, 20 years ago a volunteer parish nurse coordinator was named- Dr. Marcia Schnorr. Dr. Schnorr is now salaried. There were 6 known parish nurses at that time. Now there are over 1,000 parish nurses in the LCMS. Most all districts now have a district representative. There was no form of communication in the beginning, now we have a list serve and a newsletter. Currently the “typical” LCMS parish nurse is a female, 58 years old, and is married. She has served 6.5 years in a congregation in the Midwest and averages almost 20 hours a week. A possible “looking forward” idea is that a Lutheran parish nurse association be formed.

The 16th Annual Concordia Conference for Parish Nurse and Congregational Health Ministries was held following our district rep meeting. Be Well, Serve Well was the title of this conference. We heard an excellent keynote speaker, Dr. Mary Moller speaking on Wellness: Choice not Cliché. The keynote was followed by many excellent breakout sessions.

My function as district rep is to promote, support and educate others about parish nursing and health ministries. As the Iowa District East rep I have identified 17 parish nurses in our district. This past year the number has decreased unfortunately due to some retiring. Please contact me if you know of anyone interested in health ministries or parish nursing.

Ronda Anderson RN

Bethany Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids