St. Peter's Lutheran Church will bid farewell to its minister of 38 years, pastor Craig Ross, on Sunday, June 30. The church invites community members to join in celebrating Craig's ministry during a unified worship service at 9:30 a.m., with a luncheon to follow.

Craig is a native of North Babylon, N.Y., and graduated from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., before attending the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. His relationship with St. Peter's began in 1981 when he served as an intern.

He was called to serve as assistant pastor in 1986 and as senior pastor in 1994. Craig is known for his ability to provide calm spiritual leadership for a large congregation; St. Peter's membership currently stands at 485 households. During his ministry, he performed 693 baptisms and more than 250 weddings. He guided more than 20 interns.

Craig is also known for his capacity to connect with the young and young-at-heart. Youth ministry was a passion he shared with his wife, Nancy, and their children, Jesse and Justin. They led youth retreats ranging from beach to woodland settings and hosted caroling parties where Nancy made pigs in a blanket for 70 to 80 youth group members at the Rosses' home. Craig regularly wrote child-friendly dramas for Christmas Eve services, which for many years featured a two-person camel costume created by Nancy. During the pandemic, parking lot Christmas and Easter services included interaction via car horns, headlights, and windshield wipers. Craig often based sermons on children's literature authors Cynthia Ryland and Walter Wangerin. And, to the delight of Sunday school and vacation Bible school children, he shared the Gospel message through the use of his own puppet characters: Greenie the Alligator, Bacon the Pig, and Nibbler the Mouse.

During Craig's tenure, St. Peter's Lutheran Church embarked on a number of new ministries. Most notable is their partnership with companion congregation Busoka Lutheran Church in Tanzania and Word of Life Deaf Lutheran Church, which meets in St. Peter's chapel. Craig's ministry saw a large expansion of St. Peter's facility in 2006 when a new sanctuary, chapel, office space, cry room, nursery, conference room, and music room were added.

St. Peter's is located at 10 Delp Road, Lancaster. For more information, visit http://www.stpeterslutheran.org or call 717-569-9211.