Joshua Group

The mission of the Joshua Group is to guide and advance Gloria Dei’s conceptual plan for the development of the North Campus property as voted upon by the congregation at the 2006 annual church meeting.

The main components of the plan include: a life center that will serve as a hub for church, school, senior housing, and community activities, a senior housing development that will provide care and housing in a continuing care retirement community, and a retreat/conference center open to families, organizations, and businesses for events and meetings.

The Joshua Group consists of four members: Pastor L. Douglas Stowe, Larry Tonneson, Chip Lomax, and Keith Leckrone. Additional boards and advisory groups generated from Gloria Dei and the local community will be utilized to further advance and manage the development.

The goal of the Joshua Group is to create a range of programs that will support the mission and outreach of Gloria Dei into the wider community and a facility infrastructure that will enhance that mission.

Reverend
L. Douglas Stowe

Larry Tonneson

Keith Leckrone

Chip Lomax

Pictures not available at this time.

The Reverend L. Douglas Stowe, a native of Mount Holly, North Carolina, came to Hampton, Virginia, in 1969 as Parish Pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. He has been a resident of Hampton since then and has served the parish continuously since 1969 and serves today as Senior Pastor with nearly 1,000 members. Pastor Stowe is a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, North Carolina; the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina; and the Memphis Institute of Medicine and Religion, Memphis, Tennessee.

Pastor Stowe founded Gloria Dei Lutheran in 1972, and became Headmaster in 1973. Today Gloria Dei Lutheran School has over 100 faculty and staff, over 600 students enrolled in preschool through the fifth grade, and over 140 students enrolled in a childcare program including children from eight area public schools. The school serves the peninsula with academic excellence. The Gloria Dei Lutheran School houses a computer educational program which is rated superior to those in other Virginia private elementary schools. Gloria Dei Lutheran School is a leader in fundraising for the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart program and other charities.

Pastor Stowe has served the City of Hampton and the Peninsula throughout his 33-year residency in a number of positions. These positions include Contact Pastor to Langley Air Force Base, Chaplain to and Crisis Intervention Counsel for the City of Hampton Police Department, visiting lecturer to Tidewater Regional Academy for Criminal Justice, Sponsoring Pastor of the largest Girl Scout and Boy Scout Programs on the Peninsula, charter organizer of Hampton Ecumenical Lodging and Provisions (HE.L.P.), and Dean of Peninsula Area of the Virginia Synod Lutheran Church of America. Pastor Stowe also was assigned by the Hampton City Council to the Board of Advisors, Riverside Hospital Department of Mental Health.

Larry is married to Virginia (Ginny) Tonneson, a math teacher at Tabb Middle School. They have two children; Matthew a 1st Lieutenant stationed at Travis AFB, CA and Jennifer, conducting medical research at Dartmouth College. Larry and Ginny have had a long relationship with Gloria Dei joining the church in 1984. After several military assignments they returned to Gloria Dei a second time in 1995. Larry’s job as a defense contractor returned them again to Gloria Dei in January 2004. Larry served his first year on the Gloria Dei Church Council in 2005.

After graduating from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Keith became a real estate developer of low and middle income housing on the south side of Chicago. For 25 years he acquired and developed, without displacement, distressed multi-family properties in low and middle income neighborhoods. He, along with his partner, completed the substantial renovation of over 500 units in 15 buildings in the Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland, Washington Park, Grand Boulevard, and East Garfield Park neighborhoods of the city.

Keith received his MBA degree from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago in 1994. He moved with his family to Hampton in 1995 and for the following 10 years he continued developing residential housing in Chicago while commuting between Hampton and Chicago. He joined Gloria Dei in 1995 along with his wife, Mary Jane, a Hampton City school social worker and sons: Kyle, now a senior at Marist College, and Brice, a freshman at Southern Illinois University. During their time in Hampton the Leckrone family has enjoyed the fellowship and worship life at Gloria Dei and the opportunities to grow and serve in the life of the church.

The 2005 closing of the real estate development portfolio in Chicago has enabled Keith to join the Joshua Group in guiding the development of Gloria Dei’s North Campus.

Chip, a Hampton native, has been involved with athletics and community activities for over 20 years. He graduated from Christopher Newport in 1988, and for 2 years was their Director of Intramurals and Recreation Sports. Chip spent several years in the tennis industry in such positions as Head Tennis Professional at Cedar Point Country Club in Suffolk, VA, Manager of Contracts for MatchPoint Inc., a tennis services provider and Asst. Tennis Coach at CNU. More recently Chip has coached youth soccer for The Phillips Athletic Assoc. and directed their Advanced Program. He is currently on the board of the Riverdale Regional Civic Assoc. and is finishing his third term as president of the Riverdale Recreation Assoc. where his work focuses on summertime pool operations and managing over 10 acres of recreation space. At Gloria Dei, Chip helps coordinate the annual Fish Fry and Hanging of the Greens events as well as being a member of the Men’s Breakfast Bible Group. He has been working for FedEx for over 17 years in both operations and sales where he is currently a Senior Account Executive. Chip has been married to Dawn, a Cost Account Manager for government contractor S.A.I.C. and Gloria Dei Treasurer, for over 17 years. They have a daughter, Rachel, a freshman in high school and a son, Bo, fifth grader at Gloria Dei Lutheran School. Though most family time is centered on Rachel and Bo’s youth activities, Chip and Dawn very much enjoy their involvement with programs and people at Gloria Dei