Irvin Stapf

The photo is of my wife Audrey and me in July of 2023. Both of us are in our 80s and have been married for 57 years. We’ve raised our five children in Carroll County Maryland, living in the same home for 36 of those 57 years. My life has been marked by that stability which from my observations is not as common in our younger generation.

As I indicated in my book profile I am not a scholar. I am an average man who has had a varied career from Electrical Engineering, to business owner, to ordained Lutheran pastor. In my youth I was into photography, model airplanes, and amateur radio. I was raised in a Christian home. Both of my parents were active in church and Sunday School. All of this was not that uncommon for an American boy raised in the latter 1940s and 1950s. This was the ground out of which my faith in Christ grew, not just to go along with my parents but to truly become a rich and important center of my life.

I took part in youth activities in our Lutheran congregation on the western edge of Baltimore city. We would have an annual Youth Sunday where three from the youth group would prepare one third of the Sunday’s sermon. I’ve had a fairly strong voice and once or twice shared in the youth sermon. As sometimes happens following such times one or two of the elderly congregants would complement me with the comment, “Oh, you ought to be a preacher.” For whatever reason my response at those times was, “If I’m to be a preacher the Lord will change my direction, but until then I’m going to be an Electrical Engineer.” It would take another 11 years, a BSEE degree, and four years in the industry before our Lord’s direction became clearly visible.

I relate this only to emphasize the reality of the loving hand of our Lord seeking to mold us into useful vessels for His service. I’m not unique. I’m nothing special by worldly standards. I’m just a C student who has learned to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and yield to His Hand of Grace - albeit at times poorly and with resistance. Yet I am able to look back over my 80 plus years and identify time after time where our Lord has intervened in our lives for good. He has given us meaning and purpose, and the best life of joy and love.

This is the love and guidance He has for each one of us. All of my teaching, preaching, and writing has been seeking to assure all who are willing to listen that our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is a real eternal being who has created us; who has spoken to us through His Holy Scriptures; who loves each of us to such a depth that He redeemed us at the greatest personal cost to Himself even in the midst of our sinfulness; and has shown us the way to a valuable and meaningful life now and for eternity.

Thank you for following me on this journey. The path is not always easy. It isn’t aimed at worldly prosperity and what most call happiness. But it does open the way to a life of the deepest meaning, love, and service both now and for eternity. May God’s grace and love guide and be with you each day.

I.F.S.