Betty Lingenfelter has given decades of faithful service to Immanuel Lutheran Church and Martin Luther School in Joplin, Missouri — as a teacher, as a member of the Martin Luther School Board, and now as the congregation’s organist. Her life of service is a beautiful picture of what it means to offer one’s gifts to God and His people across a lifetime.
Mrs. Lingenfelter served Martin Luther School as a teacher, investing in the faith and education of the children of Immanuel’s congregation. She later served on the Martin Luther School Board, bringing her experience and deep love for Lutheran Christian education to the governance and vision of the school. Through every season of service, her commitment to Christ, His Church, and the children of this community has remained constant.
Today, Mrs. Lingenfelter’s love for music carries her ministry forward at the organ bench. Her faithful accompaniment of the Divine Service — hymns from the Lutheran Service Book, the liturgy, and the song of the congregation — is itself a form of proclamation. Martin Luther called music “a handmaiden of theology,” and in Betty’s hands, that conviction rings true Sunday after Sunday at Immanuel. She serves under the pastoral care of Pastor Christopher Ramstad and alongside the full ministry team of Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Immanuel Lutheran Church is profoundly grateful for Mrs. Lingenfelter’s decades of faithful, varied, and joyful service — and for the gift of music she continues to offer to the glory of God and the blessing of the congregation.