Photos from the Installation

In a special service attended by area clergy, parishioners, and guests, Joseph Graumann Jr., center, was installed on Sunday, September 18, as pastor of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton St. (Route 85), Marlborough. Pictured with him, from left are Sarah Maston of Hudson, chair of the Call Committee; the Rev. Christine Kirchner, pastor of Mountain Grove Lutheran Church, Bloomsburg, PA, who attended seminary with Graumann, and who preached the sermon; the Rev. Susan Nachtigal, senior pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester, the presiding minister; and Ken LaPlante of Marlborough, president of the congregation council.
    The installation formalized the relationship between the new pastor and his congregation, and it celebrated their ministry together, not only with the church service, but with a dinner that followed, for the gathering of nearly 100 people, including 10 clergy, the pastor’s family and friends, and members of the congregation. 
    Saint Stephen Lutheran Church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation and welcomes people of all abilities, classes, races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, genders, and marital statuses. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, and Bolton. For more information, visit SaintStephenLutheran.com or the church’s Facebook page (St. Stephen Lutheran Church). The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the nation’s largest Lutheran church, with approximately four million members split into 65 synods, or territories, across the United States and the Caribbean.