Time of Grace Ministries
by Tomato Observer
Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 08:03:58 PM PDT
Time of Grace Ministries is an evangelical Lutheran television ministry featuring the sermons of Pastor Mark Jeske of St. Marcus Lutheran Church in downtown Milwaukee, WI. It was incorporated in 2000 and received 501(c ) (3) status in 2001.
Tomato Observer's diary
According to a 12/15/2001 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin),
Eight laymen and a Milwaukee pastor have launched an independent weekly television broadcast here with the goal of offering Lutheran programming to 95% of the households in the United States within five years.
....
Bolstered by a business plan and start-up funding of nearly $500,000, the non-profit organization hopes to make Jeske the nation's most visible spokesman for conservative Lutheranism.
....
Jeske's church is 60% white and 40% African-American.
"We just had the look of a universal place, and they liked that," said Jeske, 49.
....
Time of Grace Ministry is incorporated in Virginia. Both the idea and its implementation have come from the laymen, and officials of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or WELS, have encouraged them.
Other board members include: Tom Baxter, Television Division chief of the U.S. Army Visual Information Center at the Pentagon; John E. Bauer, longtime chief academic officer of Wisconsin Lutheran College and current vice president for academic affairs; Steve Boettcher, president of Boettcher Productions, a five-time Emmy-winning television production firm in Hartland.
Also, Cliff Buelow, of the Milwaukee law firm of Davis & Kuelthau; Bruce Eberle, president of Eberle Communications Group, a national fund-raising firm in McLean, Va.; Arvid Schwartz of Green Isle, Minn., a farmer, former corporate treasurer, and chairman of the Wisconsin Lutheran College board; and John C. Zimdars, president of The Zimdars Co., Inc., a life insurance consulting firm in Madison.
All belong to the theologically conservative WELS, which is based in Wauwatosa. WELS has more than 400,000 members and is the nation's third-largest Lutheran denomination.
The idea for the ministry came from Eberle, who sits on the Wisconsin Lutheran College board with Jeske, Buelow, Raabe, Schwartz and Zimdars.
The board of directors
John Bauer is chief academic officer of Wisconsin Lutheran College for the past 20 years. Presently he is the Vice President for academic affairs and the Executive Director of CHARIS, the institute of the College.... He and his wife are members of Grace Lutheran Church in Milwaukee.
Tom Baxter: As Chief of the Television Division of the US Army Visual Information Center at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, Tom Baxter is the executive responsible for production and technical operations. His organization produces approximately 200 productions and special events annually....Tom currently serves as President of Christ Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sterling, Virginia.
Steve Boettcher is president of Boettcher Productions Inc., a five-time Emmy winning production company. Boettcher Productions has been creating quality television for nearly two decades, including Kid's Connection, a video ministry of the WELS Commission on Youth Discipleship (CYD). I did not find Boettcher Productions on the web, but found Boettcher-Trinklein Mediaworks. This is the same Steve Boettcher, so maybe he has recently teamed up with Trinklein.
Cliff Buelow, Secretary, TOG, is a shareholder in the Milwaukee law firm of Davis & Kuelthau. Here's his mug. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents of Wisconsin Lutheran College where he serves as Vice Chairman. He has served on several other church-related boards and committees over the last 20 years. Cliff and his wife are members of St. Marcus Evangelical Lutheran Church in Milwaukee.
Bruce Eberle, Vice President, TOG, is the founder and president of the Eberle Communications Group, a national fund raising organization based in McLean, Virginia. Bruce serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents of Wisconsin Lutheran College. He has previously served as President of God's Word to the Nations Bible Society, which produces bibles in contemporary English language, to appeal to normal people. He's also served on several commissions and boards of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. He gave the 1994 commencement address at Wisconsin Lutheran College where he received the 1994 Pro Gloria Dei Award. Incidentally, Eberle gave the college $500,000 in 1999.
Bruce also serves as a Trustee of Joe Gibbs Youth For Tomorrow New Life Foundation, a residential "group village" for at-risk teens.
Mark Jeske has served St. Marcus Evangelical Lutheran Church in the inner City of Milwaukee since 1980. Pastor Jeske is in his third term as a member of the Board of Regents of Wisconsin Lutheran College. He is Second Vice-President, Southeastern Wisconsin District of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Daryl Raabe, President, TOG
In 1978, Daryl joined the family business, and saw it grow through 1988, when he was appointed President of Raabe Corporation. Interestingly, he left his company in 2002. From the Milwaukee Business Journal, 1/25/02:
David Wacker isn't kin to founders and long-time operators of Raabe Corp., but he's being entrusted to carry on the company's business while the owners abdicate day-to-day duties to pursue religious interests.
Wacker, who has no ownership interest in the company, became president of the Menomonee Falls paint manufacturer Jan. 1 after being groomed for the job for more than two years. He succeeded Kent and Daryl Raabe, brothers who own the company founded by their father, Richard, more than 50 years ago.
....
Although retired from the day-to-day operations, Kent and Daryl Raabe check on the company daily while focusing on other interests in their lives revolving around their strong religious beliefs.
"You live your life to serve the Lord," Daryl Raabe said.
Daryl helped start and is a key leader of the "Time of Grace Ministry," a recently launched independent weekly television show focusing on the Lutheran religion. The show airs Sunday mornings on Milwaukee's WITI-TV (Channel 6). The creators hope to eventually distribute the show beyond the Milwaukee area via cable or satellite.
The program was launched by eight laymen, including Daryl Raabe, and the Rev. Mark Jeske, pastor of St. Marcus Evangelic Lutheran Church, 2215 N. Palmer St. in Milwaukee's central city, where the show is filmed. Daryl Raabe is chairman and president of the nonprofit organization that supports the show, which received start-up funding of about $500,000, primarily from two major donors and a pair of foundation grants.
Raabe also is temporarily executive director of the nonprofit organization.
"He's a very aggressive, hands-on person," Jeske said of Raabe.
The show was the brainchild of Bruce Eberle, president of Eberle Communications Group, a McLean, Va.-based national fund-raising company. Others involved in the project include: Tom Baxter, television division chief of the U.S. Army Visual Information Center at the Pentagon; and John Bauer, vice president of academic affairs at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
The Rev. Jeske knows the Raabes from when he was a high school and college student and worked for Raabe Corp. when the company operated retail paint stores in Milwaukee.
Raabe joined Jeske's congregation nearly two years ago. The church's multiracial makeup with a mix of blacks and whites appealed to Raabe, he said.
....
Raabe has served four terms on the Board of Directors of Wisconsin Lutheran High School, the last as President. Daryl currently is Treasurer of Wisconsin Lutheran College and a member of the Executive Committee of its Board of Regents.
Arvid Schwartz, Treasurer, TOG
Arvid has been a lifelong member of the Wisconsin Synod. Arvid is currently the Minnesota District representative on the WELS Synodical Council. He served on the WELS Board of Trustees for 12 years and was a member of the Executive Committee. He is serving his fourth term on the Wisconsin Lutheran College Board of Regents and is in his second term as Chairman of that board.
John Zimdars is president of The Zimdars Company, Inc., a third generation independent life insurance consulting firm, based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is serving his fourth term on the Board of Regents of Wisconsin Lutheran College and was Chairman of the Board for four years.
I have searched Lexis/Nexis and the web extensively, and can't find anything off-kilter about anyone/anything but Eberle himself. I remain unconvinced that he and Bobby Eberle are related, for what it's worth.
***
GJ - Note the entire article above is from Daily Kos, where the author copied from other sources.
***
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Left Wing Daily Kos - Time of Grace Articles":
Jeske is no longer VP of the Southeastern Wisconsin District. He resigned when he received flak after he accepted an invitation by the mayor of Milwaukee to pray at a public event, at which other ministers ALSO led the group in prayer, along with Jeske. (Jeske didn't know that was going to happen.)
***
GJ - Note to Anonymous. Flack is a PR agent. I changed your word to flak, the German acronym for anti-aircraft cannon. Kanon = canon in German: easy to remember.
