Our very special 50th Anniversary Dinner was held the evening of February 4, 2006 at the Shawnee Country Club in Milford, preceded by appetizers and fellowship at Reformation Lutheran Church.

Sunday, February 5, 2006 was the actual anniversary of the church, which was celebrated by a special reception following one worship service at 11 am instead of the usual two.

The Reformation church family was excited to see most all of the pastors who were instrumental in growing the church. Attending the special events were the Rev. John M. Scherch who was called by the congregation as its first pastor; the Rev. Paul L. Buehrle who was installed on December 20, 1959 as the second pastor until he resigned on August 30, 1965 to accept another call; the Rev. S. Allan Ruby, who began his ministry at Reformation in 1970 and served until January 25, 1978 and of course Pastor John D. Ranney, who is the current pastor and is remarkable in that he has served continuously since 1978, his only congregation call. This is both a rarity and a blessing both for Reformation and the Ranney family. Pastor Ranney's wife Margo teaches in the Milford School District and their two sons Kirk and Drew were born and grew up in Milford, very much a part of the local community.

Another special guest at the celebration was the Bishop of the Delaware-Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Rev. H. Gerard Knoche. The synod is one of 65 geographic subdivisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the fourth largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Headquartered in The Lutheran Center in Baltimore's Inner Harbor area, the synod serves some 96,000 Lutherans in 188 congregations across the two-state area.

Reformation Lutheran Church has been selling special 50th anniversary mementoes. All profits from these sales will be split between special Reformation projects and mission projects. Parishioners may also donate directly to these endeavors, such as the new fellowship hall building fund or their mission at Long Neck. One marvelous donation received from an anonymous donor just before Christmas was a baby grand piano to replace the old "tolerable" piano.

50th anniversary souvenirs are still available and include: Reformation Christmas ornaments and a fabulous Reformation Choir and Handbells CD of favorite music memorable to the congregation. They are sold in the narthex each Sunday after the 8:30 and 11:00 AM worship services or you may get them by contacting the church.

The Reformation 50th Anniversary Committee was headed by "charter children" Jan Reichhold Steele and Susan Jackson Emory and we are grateful to them for their efforts.