Submitted Photo A charter member of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Bonnie Rennich has dedicated 42 years as a volunteer and employee. Photo by Jamie Rennich, Just James Studio.

A love for people has defined Bonnie Rennich’s ministry. The warm, welcoming atmosphere she fostered helped shape Our Savior Lutheran Church for the past 42 years, according to fellow church members.

Dennis Krueger, a former, long-time board member and past president, said Rennich stood out for her musical contributions but she also was someone who loved God and cared for people.

“She looked out for people. It didn’t matter who they were. She was concerned about people,” he said.

Rennich remains a member at Our Savior but is returning to a volunteer role after many years as an employee. A charter member of the Missouri Synod church founded in 1984, she has worked in volunteer, part-time and full-time capacities.

Rennich said her family had just moved to Minot when they received a knock on their door and an invitation to a new church that was meeting in Edison School.

“I thought that was intriguing, a brand new church, so I walked down there and it’s just a small group of people. They come in, set up their own chairs, and worship under the Teddy Roosevelt flag. I liked the feeling of it,” she said of the family atmosphere.

That first Sunday, she offered to play piano if they ever needed her.

“I never got off the piano bench after that,” she smilingly said. “I started the next week.”

Rennich remembers those start-up years as a time when everyone could feel needed and when big decisions had to be made. A church building was constructed in south Minot. The church built two additions since then and has been served by five different pastors.

Rennich said she was involved from the beginning with the worship program.

“We really kind of formed what this church was going to look like in the future. Used to always call it our DNA. Different churches have different feels and looks, and that was very formative those years,” she said.

Rennich was a part-time staff member for about 20 years while working a full-time job and raising three children.

“They were considering calling a second pastor because growth was just really, really happening, and they changed their minds and decided to ask me to accept a full-time position,” she said.

“About 50 percent of my job was music and worship, helping to plan worship services, but I was also in small group ministries, organizing small group Bible studies, volunteer ministries, helping people discover their gifts, and then finding places to fit them in, and introducing them to different ministries where they could become involved,” Rennich said.

Then there was time spent on “people care.”

“That was just tracking people with different needs – emotional, spiritual, physical needs – and getting those to pastors and elders, and making sure people don’t slip through the cracks when they have needs, and then just taking care of people as God presented those opportunities to me,” she said.

As part of that care, she and a friend started Stephen Ministries, which provides one-on-one, trained lay care.

Rennich also led the women’s ministry for a time as she played a part in just about every aspect of the church, including serving on administrative teams.

She coordinated a mission team, personally traveling with the team a dozen times to Juarez, Mexico, and helping to build 15 homes and a church during those trips.

During times of pastoral vacancies, Rennich picked up the load to handle the administration and finances, Krueger said.

“She’s the one that kind of helped our church get to where it’s at today because of all the time she put in during those vacancies and any other times when we were having difficulties. She would just be the spirit that got everybody going,” Krueger said. “She was always there in the background, and in the length of time that she was there, everybody knows her and knows the kind person that she is and how she can bring people together.”

“She always did what she did to serve the Lord, and by doing that, she helped a lot of other people get involved in the church,” said David DesLauriers, chairman of the church board. “Whatever you thought your skill was, she would try to put that to work within the church.”

“She’s been an encourager to all of them,” added Marsha DesLauriers, a friend and former co-worker of Rennich. “Some of those people might not have stood up in front of people, might not have sat behind a camera for the livestream, but she brings that out in people and they end up doing it pretty joyfully.”

Rennich also was approachable, she said.

“People would drop in her office unannounced all the time, and she would welcome them in,” Marsha DesLauriers said. “She had a welcoming countenance, and that’s something that our church has become known for, and I think that’s, in part, because of Bonnie.”

Rennich, a Wisconsin native, credits her parents for instilling faith and a work ethic but, more importantly, a non-judgmental acceptance of people and a heart for listening to them and loving them.

She said her one concern about her ministry was knowing when to retire. She would ask other retirees how to know it was time, and the answer always was, ‘You’ll just know.'”

“My ministry here has been just wonderful. It’s been such a blessing to me. So, it was difficult to even imagine not being here after all those years, not walking up that sidewalk every morning. But then God just placed the most incredible people here all at the same time,” Rennich said.

Senior Pastor Dan Haugen came about a year ago. The church hired an associate pastor and full-time director of Christian Education. When a young woman who had studied piano under Rennich and sung in her church youth choir returned with a music degree and praise team experience, Rennich saw it as a sign from God and arranged to transition the music program into new hands.

The words “you’ll know” rang true, she said.

“I knew. Not easy, but I knew it was the right time,” she said. She will continue to volunteer, including participating in the praise band and directing the choir.

Rennich said she planned for a low-key exit but the church decided to hold a retirement party on June 28.

“It could not have been more special. It was something I didn’t think I wanted, but it’s something I’ll treasure my whole life, because it was so thoughtful. I was so grateful for everything they did,” she said. “I woke up that morning, Sunday morning, with almost a heavy heart. I wasn’t looking forward to the day. I kind of wanted it over, because I knew it was going to be so emotional and feel like I was giving something up, and I just prayed, ‘Lord, if you could just give me joy in each moment today – not sadness, but joy,’ and he did. It was the most joyful time.

“I look back at that 42 years, and it’s just amazing to me,” she added. “The Holy Spirit is just alive here, and people feel that, and I was just blessed to be able to work with an incredible staff – for God’s people here. Just blessed beyond measure.”