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Commemoration of the Visitation

Yes, today is Trinity Sunday, but May 31 is also The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, a lesser festival (LBW & ELW)/principal feast of Christ (LSB) on many liturgical calendars. In More Days for Praise (Augsburg Fortress 2016), author Gail Ramshaw writes that this day “as focused both on joy at the coming of Christ and on the friendship between the two women” (124). Her suggested topics for prayers include

  • “Praise God for giving to us believers the company of others with whom to worship.
  • “Pray for the grace to sing thanks to God, no matter how life develops.
  • Pray for deepening friendships” (125)

For the first and third suggestions on this list, I praise God and give thanks for some new and renewed connections with deaconess sisters and daughters of deaconess sisters. As the keynote speaker for the LCMS NOW district conference for youth and family ministry (in April 2026), I met two deaconess sisters and the daughters of two deaconesses!

Left to right, Deaconess Ashley Bayless, Lutheran Hour Ministries (Spokane Valley, WA) and Deaconess Amanda Mumm, Immanuel Lutheran Church (Twin Falls, ID), and me. It was great to meet some deacs from other parts of the country doing important ministry in the church.

Left to right: DCE Patra Mueller (Hope Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA), daughter of Deaconess Rhoda Pfotenhauer, and DCE Dereem Hoff (Our Savior Lutheran Church, Tacoma, WA), daughter of Deaconess Eunice McKinney. I’ve known Dereem since she was a child, as Eunice and Bob brought their children to the Deaconess Annual Meeting every year; and I first met Patra’s mother, Rhoda, for 30 years – since we both live in the Twin Cities. When she saw my name on the program materials prior to the conference, Patra emailed me, saying that her mother is also a deaconess and also named Rhoda. I responded that I was sure I knew her mom!

As the retiree among these women, I would certainly be the “Elizabeth” to them and they are the younger “Mary” to me. I treasure the holy conversations we had together. What a gift to be with these dedicated deaconesses and deaconess daughters, all serving Christ and Christ’s church in “faith and service.”

For more about the NOW conference, click here and here.

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Visitation Photos (by Rhoda Schuler) …
Banner photo: Marian Grotto, Portland, OR (March 2025)
Closing photo: Monastery of the Visitation, Ein Karem (Jerusalem suburb), Israel (December 2017)