Rev. Robert A. WENDELIN

WENDELIN, LUDERS, GOETZ

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:57

April 22, 1928 –--- January 31, 2019

Rev. Robert A. Wendelin, 90, pastor emeritus of North Park Lutheran Church

Rev. Robert A. Wendelin, pastor emeritus of North Park Lutheran Church, died Jan. 31 in Caledonia, Mich. His family said the cause was congestive heart failure. He was 90. Born in Chicago, he was a 1948 graduate of Concordia College in Milwaukee, Wis. After earning two bachelor's degrees from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., he was ordained on Aug. 23, 1953. He later completed a master’s degree at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.

Rev. Wendelin first was assigned to Mount Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Eagle Grove, Iowa, then was pastor of Cross Lutheran Church in Milwaukee from 1955 to 1959. He went on to serve as pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Highland Park, Ill., until 1971, when he came to Calvary Lutheran Church in Eggertsville. In 1976, during an upheaval over Biblical interpretation in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, he led a group of about 100 parishioners who broke away from Calvary, which was affiliated with the Missouri Synod, and formed Peace in Christ Lutheran Church.

In 1980, Peace in Christ merged with North Park, which is now affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Rev. Wendelin became pastor. He retired in 1993.

His action during the schism in the Missouri Synod inspired other progressive Lutherans. One of them, Rev. Susan M. Strouse, his successor at North Park, wrote: “I saw Bob Wendelin as a prophetic role model, willing to risk it all for the sake of truth. When he retired, I immediately expressed my desire to follow in his footsteps.”

A music lover with an appreciation for sacred music, especially Bach, Rev. Wendelin oversaw the design, development and installation of a Schlicker organ in North Park Lutheran Church. In retirement, he was a chaplain for more than 10 years at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In 2001, he was appointed chaplain of Niagara Lutheran Health System, where he served for 15 years as an active board member and then as an honorary member. He was chaplain of both Niagara Lutheran Home and Rehabilitation Center in Buffalo and GreenFields Health and Rehabilitation Center in Lancaster.

A former Amherst resident, he moved to Caledonia, Mich., a few years ago to be close to his daughter, Cathy Luders, and her family. His daughter noted that he was “a huge Buffalo Bills fan.” His wife of 58 years, the former Margaret Goetz, active as a community volunteer and in the church on local and national levels, died in 2010.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include three sons, Philip, Michael and John; five grandchildren; two step-granddaughters and four step-great-grandchildren.

A Eucharistic celebration of his life will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in North Park Lutheran Church, 310 Starin Ave.

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