Evangelist commissioned to Niagara area

L to R: Rev. Dr. Thomas Korcok, Rev. Dr. John Stephenson, East Regional Pastor Rev. Marvin Bublitz, Rev. Dr. Thomas Winger, Rev. Dr. James Kellerman, and Poya Zamani (kneeling)

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – On Sunday, September 11, 2022, Poya Zamani was commissioned and installed as a Lutheran Church–Canada evangelist to the Muslim population in the Niagara area of Ontario. 

Poya’s gifts for compassionate conversation and fearless faith were seen in action shortly after his own baptism into the Christian faith at Trinity Lutheran Church in Steglitz-Berlin, Germany. When his personal safety was threatened for sharing the Christian faith with Muslims in Germany, Poya sought refugee status in Canada and began studies at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines. While not feeling called to pursue the Pastoral Office at this time, Poya has a great desire to serve Christ, His Church, and the Muslim people Christ is calling to Himself. 

With the recommendation of the seminary faculty, Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC), through its Director of Missions, Rev. Mark Smith, has placed Poya as a commissioned Evangelist to the Muslim people in the Niagara Circuit. Under the supervision of Rev. Kurt Lantz (Resurrection Lutheran Church in St. Catharines), Poya will be proclaiming Christ and helping LCC congregations welcome new members from the Muslim world. 

LCC’s East Regional Pastor, Rev. Marvin Bublitz, conducted the consecration on behalf of Lutheran Church–Canada, assisted by seminary faculty and Rev. Kurt Lantz. Poya’s evangelism efforts are supported by the Concordia Lutheran Mission Society.

Rev. Kurt Lantz

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