New Third Vice President appointed for Lutheran Church–Canada

Third Vice President Rudy Pastucha.

CANADA – Rev. Rudy Pastucha (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) has been appointed to serve as Third Vice-President of Lutheran Church-Canada (LCC) by action of the Synod’s Board of Directors (BOD).

In late May, his predecessor, Rev. Mark L. Smith (Plumas, Manitoba), advised Synod leadership that he had accepted the call to serve as the Atlantic Canada area missionary for the East District, stationed in Halifax. As a result of this move from the Central District to the East District, Rev. Smith became ineligible to continue serving as LCC’s Third Vice President and as a member of the Board of Directors.

Lutheran Church–Canada’s BOD addressed the vacancy resulting from Rev. Smith’s departure during a June 25 conference call. Rev. Pastucha had previously served as LCC’s Third Vice President from 2013-2014, following the resignation of Rev. Mark Dressler (who had moved from the Central District to the Alberta-British Columbia District).

“I feel no small sadness at Pastor Smith’s departure,” said LCC President Robert Bugbee. “He has been an articulate, competent member of the Council of Presidents and Board of Directors in the very brief time he was with us since last September. The Lord bless the decision he has made, and help us and his parish people with all the adjustments we will need to address.”

“At the same time, I’m encouraged by Pastor Pastucha’s willingness to return to this office,” President Bugbee continued. “Humanly speaking, we have experienced far too many changes within the ranks of the vice-presidents in recent years, and I am hopeful that Rudy’s resumption of this task will help provide some of the continuity we need at this time. He was an energetic and devoted servant of the Synod when he served before, and I’m glad he can resume the work without much special orientation.”

In addition to his parish work at Faith Lutheran Church in Saskatoon, Rev. Pastucha also serves as the Synod president’s representative on the Board of Regents of Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton, an arrangement that will continue into the future, President Bugbee noted.

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