A message from our St. Luke Church Council President and Vice President

Monday, January 12, 2026

Dear St. Luke family,

As you are probably already aware, Pastor Johnson has accepted a call to another congregation and has resigned his position as Senior Pastor at St. Luke. Since he will be moving to a congregation not affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), LCMS protocols require that his resignation become effective immediately, as of January 11, 2026. We wish him and Elizabeth all God’s blessings in their new endeavor.

We have been in contact with Bishop Taylor regarding the steps required for us to call a new Senior Pastor. While we are all anxious to move forward as quickly as possible, there are several tasks that must be accomplished before we can formally establish a Call Committee. The initial item is a new survey to determine the congregation’s needs and preferences for our next pastor. We expect to provide this survey to you within the next few weeks; please take the time to prayerfully consider the questions and provide your responses in accordance with the schedule that will be provided with the survey.

Once the surveys have been returned and the responses have been compiled and reviewed, we will move forward with establishing a Call Committee, in accordance with St. Luke’s Constitution and By-Laws and guidance from the LCMS Atlantic District. It is important to ensure that the make-up of a Call Committee is representative of our entire community, and we encourage anyone to reach out to us with suggestions for potential Call Committee candidates for consideration.

Please be assured that we will maintain pastoral coverage during the transition period, and we will continue to keep you updated regarding the process and progress toward calling a new pastor. As always, we encourage and greatly appreciate your continued prayers and support for St. Luke.

In His service,

Ken Wenz, Church Council President

Jackie Guidone, Church Council Vice President

Congregation Members Pastor Survey
(For members only)

Dear St. Luke members,

In evaluating potential candidates for Senior Pastor, it is imperative that your Call Committee try to answer the question: “What kind of pastor do we need?”, by obtaining feedback from our congregation members, through a Congregational survey. The survey consists of 34 questions and a comment section and is designed to provide information to the Call Committee regarding the characteristics we are seeking in a Senior Pastor. The information that you provide is crucial to the call process and we encourage all adult members prayerfully consider the questions and complete the survey using this link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YQZZZM

At the end of the survey don't forget to click the "DONE" button to submit your responses

Please note that the survey will only be available until midnight on Friday, January 30, 2026. A limited number of paper copies are also available in the Church narthex, along with a box for paper responses, for those who cannot or choose not to access the electronic survey

Thank you for your participation and input! If you have questions or have difficulty completing or accessing this survey, please contact Ken Wenz, Church Council President via email at kpwenz@gmail.com or by phone at (631) 742-0638

Sincerely,

Ken Wenz

Church Council President

January 19, 2026

January 19, 2026

Regarding Pastoral Care during transition from our St. Luke Church Council President and Vice President

Dear St. Luke Family,

As we move further into the pastoral transition period, Bishop Taylor is working closely with us to identify and schedule visiting pastors and/or a more-regular interim pastor to lead us in regular Sunday worship. However, there are also many other pastoral duties which will continue to be needed during the transition, including the monthly Huntington Hills worship service, hospital and home visitations, preschool chapel services, new member classes, funerals/memorial services, etc. Due to his familiarity with our St. Luke family, we have met with Pastor Cusanelli regarding these needs, and he has agreed to assist us in any way that he can, for anything that is not in conflict with his full-time responsibilities at St. Paul's in Amityville. Please note that Pastor Cusanelli will not be leading us in Sunday worship, due to his commitments to St. Paul’s. Bishop Taylor is very much in favor of this plan, and we are all grateful for Pastor Cusanelli’s assistance.

This plan and the associated compensation package have been approved by the Church Council, and the plan will be implemented immediately. Requests for pastoral services can be submitted to pastor@stlukedixhills.org, to Ken Wenz at kpwenz@gmail.com, or to Jackie Guidone at jackies7fromhvn@aol.com, for referral to Pastor Cusanelli.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions regarding this plan.

In His service,

Ken Wenz, Church Council President

Jackie Guidone, Church Council Vice-President

February 2, 2026