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A Legacy of Learning
Do you think about whether people will remember you decades after your life has ended? Have you ever considered what kind of legacy you will leave to your surviving family and friends?
 Pastor Marvyn Dubrick was a man of great energy and ambition. After dropping out of school at the end of Grade 10, he went to work on the family farm alongside his father. But he dreamed of becoming a pastor, like several of the men in his mother’s family. So he went back to school, completing his Grade 13 equivalency and then a bachelor’s degree at Waterloo College. That enabled him to enroll at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and qualify for ordination in 1962.Pr. Dubrick served churches in Arnprior and Waterloo before being called to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Chesley. While at St. Mark’s, he and Pr. Lloyd Wiseman founded LutheRanch. It was conceived as “a place where both the able-bodied and the handicapped could enrich and develop their bodies, minds and spirits in a Christian community away from the stresses and tensions of everyday life.”
In the fall of 1976 Pr. Dubrick organized Faith Lutheran Church a mission congregation in Port Elgin. A few short months later he died in a car accident, leaving his wife Helen and 2 young children, Elayne and Joel.
The story could end there. Marvyn Dubrick had co-founded LutheRanch and developed Faith Lutheran Church, a congregation that has a thriving ministry to its community four decades later. Not a bad legacy for a pastor whose life ended in his early 40s.
But members of the Dubrick family felt there should be more to the story. In 2000 they approached Waterloo Lutheran Seminary about establishing some sort of suitable memorial to Marvyn’s life and ministry. After some discussion with then Principal-Dean, Dr. Richard Crossman, the family decided to provide funding for the Marvyn Dubrick Lectureship at Lutherhostel, a continuing education program jointly operated by the seminary and the Eastern Synod.
 Lutherhostel was a week-long program that ran every June. It was structured around a series of four keynote lectures delivered by a scholar with an international reputation in some aspect of Christian studies. Eventually Lutherhostel was succeeded by the Dubrick Summer Institute, which focuses specifically on continuing education for rostered leaders. Over the years hundreds of pastors and lay people have attended these events to extend their professional development and deepen their understanding of the relationship between faith and the modern world. Because of the Dubrick Lectureship, they were challenged by cutting-edge ideas presented by academic specialists from other parts of the globe.In reflecting on this gift, the Rev. Dr. Mark Harris, the current Principal-Dean at the seminary commented, “the generosity of his family has provided both a lasting and fitting tribute to Pastor Dubrick and to his ministry. Through the lectureships at LutherHostel and the leadership training opportunities offered through the Dubrick Summer Institute, his legacy continues to strengthen the church of today.”
When the Dubrick family established the lectureship in Marvyn’s name, they were intent on finding an appropriate way to acknowledge his life. Gerald Dubrick, Marvyn’s brother, said, “Marvyn was continually studying and upgrading his knowledge. Continuing education for pastors seemed like the right way to continue his legacy.”
Annual gifts from the family have supported the costs of bringing a guest lecturer to Waterloo each year. A few years ago the family created the Dubrick Family Fund to ensure that Marvyn’s legacy is felt long into the future. ELFEC receives gifts from the family and invests them. The fund agreement specifies that the principal and investment income be used for the Dubrick Lectures or other suitable programs and activities at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary.
Marvyn Dubrick’s legacy lives on in one other way. Earlier this year his grandson, Ben Cameron, entered the undergraduate program in Christian Studies and Global Citizenship at the seminary.
You may not be a visionary pastor and developer like Marvyn Dubrick, but you can leave a legacy of your own. If you want more information about making a planned gift or establishing a family fund of your own, talk to us at ELFEC. We’re glad to help.
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