Assembly

Deacon John Weit serves as Executive for Worship of the ELCA. In this role, John oversees the work of the worship team within the churchwide organization and provides leadership on behalf of the presiding bishop in matters related to worship. This includes developing and implementing strategies and resources that support worship in synods, congregations and other local worship assemblies across the ELCA as well as planning and worship leadership for churchwide events. Prior to his call to the churchwide organization in 2016, John served as musician for congregations in Pennsylvania and most recently as cantor to Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester, Mass. John earned a Master of Arts in religion with a concentration in liturgy and music from The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, now United Lutheran Seminary. As part of his work with the ELCA, John works closely with the board of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.

The Rev. Dr. Chad Rimmer joined Lenoir-Rhyne as rector and dean of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) in April 2023. In this role, Rimmer serves as the lead academic and church administrator for LTSS and works to further develop the seminary to an exemplary status within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Rimmer is rostered in the ELCA North Carolina Synod, which is the land and peoples that formed him. In the U.S., he has been an adjunct lecturer at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, the United Lutheran Seminary and served congregations in York, Pennsylvania and Copenhagen, Denmark. His vocation as a teaching theologian led him on a global, ecumenical path of theological education in Scotland, France and Senegal with people of diverse contexts, cultures and bio-regions across the Lutheran communion. Most recently, Rimmer served as program executive for theology and practice at the Lutheran World Federation Department of Theology, Mission and Justice in Geneva, Switzerland. This role included teaching across the seven regions of the Global Network for Theological Education and Formation.

His research interests include the intersection of theology and natural sciences, social ethics, climate justice and aesthetics. At LTSS, Rimmer teaches in the areas of eco-theology and ethics, constructive theology, liturgy and worship.

He is the author of many books and journal articles, including co-author of “Contemporary ecotheology, climate justice and environmental stewardship in world religions” (Ecothee volume 6, Orthodox Academy of Crete Publications), “Religion, Sustainability and Education pedagogy, perspectives, and praxis towards ecological sustainability,” “We Believe in the Holy Spirit, Global Perspectives on Lutheran Identities” (Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig/Lutheran World Federation) and “Greening the children of God ‐ Thomas Traherne and nature’s role in the ecological formation of children” (Pickwick Publications, reprinted in 2021 by Lutterworth Press).

Rimmer is the parent of two humans and one dog, Lucy.