New Lead Pastor Installed at Local Church

Pr. Eric Kennaugh will be installed as Immanuel’s Lead Pastor on Sun., Oct. 16 at 2:30 PM. The service will take place in Immanuel’s Family Life Center, with a reception immediately following. The sermon will be offered by Pr. Larry Tieman, Immanuel-Crystal Lake. Pr. Tieman was the associate pastor at the church where Pr. Eric was a seminary field worker. The community is invited to participate in this special event.

Pastor Kennaugh was born in Royal Oak, Michigan and attended Western Michigan University (WMU). He graduated in 1995 with Bachelor of Arts Degrees in History and Latin and a minor in Medieval Studies. He and his wife Amy were married on May 25, 1996. The following year he attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and studied Byzantine History.

It was while he was in DC that Pastor Kennaugh joined Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Bethesda, Maryland. Following encouragement from friends at Pilgrim, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri and began studies at the Concordia Seminary. He served his vicarage at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Brunswick, Ohio and received his Master of Divinity degree May 18, 2001. Following his ordination in 2001 he accepted a call to be the Associate Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he served until 2003. While at Trinity he served as a Zone Counselor for the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML).

In December of 2003 Pastor Kennaugh was installed as pastor of Risen Christ Lutheran Church, Springfield, Ohio. While at Risen Christ he led the congregation through several transitions. They started Risen Christ Lutheran School, converted to policy-based governance, added a contemporary worship service, and built a sanctuary. Pastor Kennaugh served as the pastoral counselor for the LWML Ohio District Convention. He served on the board of directors for the Marriage Resource Center of the Miami Valley. He was also very active serving the Ohio District as an executive coach and board of directors member for CoachAdvance, as a consultant for the Transforming Congregations Network of the Ohio District, and was a member of the Ohio District Church Extension Fund Board of Trustees.

He joined the staff at Immanuel as Associate Pastor in 2014. Pastor Kennaugh and his wife Amy have three daughters, Mikayla (15), Jocelyn (13), and Kera (11).