By Ashley Wiehe
Director of Communication

For the pastors on Worship Anew, they don’t always see the immediate impact of their sermons. They don’t know the individuals that God is able to reach through the message. It’s only through viewers comments and notes that they get a small glimpse of how God has been at work.

In 2018, the Rev. Thomas Eggold joined the program as a regular pastor on Worship Anew. This Easter, he is stepping away from the program to focus on his home congregation.

As he reflected on his years at Worship Anew, it was the impact that Worship Anew has been able to have that meant the most to him.

“It was an eye opener for me. I’m always surprised by people who will come up and say that they watched me on Worship Anew or notes that I get from all over the place,” Eggold said. “I think it gives you a better—a bigger—appreciation for the Church, not just your congregation, but the Christian Church.”

He’s shared that the more that he hears from viewers, the more he grows appreciative of the ministry of Worship Anew. Because of that, each time he was preaching, he would think about the people on the other side of the camera— the ones in need, the ones who were only able to hear the Word of God from him that week, and the ones who watched Worship Anew before heading off to their home church that day.

“There are people on the other side of the camera who really need what Jesus has promised,” he said. “Every time I preach, I think about that, and I think about my (own) grandma, for sure. But I also think about people in places that I have never been and will never go who are hearing this.”

Eggold is the senior pastor at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. He started at the church in 2003 after transitioning from his first career as a teacher. Even though he followed a long line of pastors in his family, the change was not an easy one. Progressively, he saw God working in him—and then in others.

“I was very reluctant even at my first day of Greek. It was like I was like a kindergartner. I don't want to go. I wanted to stay home,” Eggold said. “But God used all of it.”

Today, he is leading a large congregation in addition to the many who have been led in their faith during his years on Worship Anew.

“Your sermon was the single best sermon that we have ever had the blessing to experience. It was enlightening, pertinent, and spiritually uplifting. What a gift that you delivered to all of us that heard and watched,” a viewer shared about one of Pastor Eggold’s messages.

Pastor Eggold’s final regular program will be shown on Easter Day, April 20, with his sermon titled, “Christ is Risen.” The program will be available anywhere that Worship Anew is shown, including on the Worship Anew website at WorshipAnew.org.

Click below to watch a special tribute video for Pastor Eggold’s service to Worship Anew.