Last week we announced that BJS has taken a significant step of faith to move the organization forward by creating an Associate Director’s position and hiring Suzanne Zobel to fill it. Suzanne has a long history of excellence and faithfulness to our Lord’s Gospel and we are pleased that she will be devoting her time to helping us accomplish the goals of the organization that reach beyond this website.
Suzanne comes to BJS fresh from her service at the Lutheran Heritage Foundation which included travel to mission fields in Africa where she helped to organize women’s groups. She also did a fair amount of teaching the women once they were organized. Amongst the topics she taught were Reformation history and Luther’s doctrine of the freedom of the Christian. Suzanne also has experience in grant writing, volunteer coordination, setting up programs of Christian education, speaking and conducting workshops.
Suzanne’s education has served her well and fits nicely into what BJS is doing. She has a BA from Valparaiso with emphases in German, psychology and math. She is also certified as a DCE and in secondary education (Concordia – Seward, Nebraska) with an emphasis on theology and history. In addition she has completed all of her course work for a doctorate in educational testing from the University of Minnesota. Her DCE training and work in the mission field and several LCMS congregations around the country have equipped her to help BJS be better organized to rally men and women around the Lutheran Confessions and in support of new Lutheran media.
Most importantly, and what does not show up on a resume is Suzanne’s commitment to conservative and confessional theology, the traditional-historical liturgy and properly distinguishing law and gospel. Our favorite story illustrating all of these took place on one of her trips to east Africa. Suzanne was teaching a group of African women eager to learn more about Lutheranism. Many of the men from the tribe were gathered just outside of the hut and were straining to listen to the teaching. Neither Suzanne nor the gathered women were interested in letting the men in – Suzanne because she is committed to the Scriptural teaching on vocation and has no interest in usurping the office of the ministry and the tribeswomen because they were selfishly interested in guarding Suzanne’s time for themselves. Suzanne knows Biblical theology well and her work with BJS may include some teaching and leading of women. Primarily though, it is God’s gifts to her of organization and coordinating skills that will help BJS better complete its goals. We are looking forward to what the Lord will do through our group in the coming years and are convinced that the addition of our Associate Director will bring wonderful blessings to the organization. If you are able to help us financially toward those goals we invite you to make use of the fundraising button on the top of the page or contact us for further information.