Welcome Home!

  Joe Kaminer, a big muscular bear of a guy, could be imposing, that is, until he shoots you one of his huge entire face grins. Those grins can turn your entire day around in an instant.

He cherishes his family, sings to everything and anything musical, loves theater and movies, and is as much a Trekkie as he is a Star Wars fan. That’s right, he doesn’t have favorites of any kind. And the music? He does karaoke and DJs on the side as “DJ Joe Joe.”

Although Joe doesn’t talk about the years before he and his sister were adopted, he was, as he puts it, “in the foster child system” and 11 years old when they came to live with their new mom in Batesburg-Leesville.

 As the story goes, her eight-year-old sister was in charge of her one day as they walked home. What six- year-old wants to listen to her eight-year-old sister? So, when Carolyn got to the street corner and was about to cross to catch up with friends who already made it to the other side, her older and wiser sister told her to stop and wait until the traffic passed. Carolyn just knew she could make it across, so she took off running anyway. Her sister was right. She didn’t make it. She literally was hit by a Mack Truck. Fortunately, the truck only ran over the toes of her left foot. However, the accident and complications that ensued resulted in the amputation of her left leg just below the knee. 

You wouldn’t guess today that Keith is a relatively new member at Pilgrim. He now leads the Property ministry, is on Council, participates in Lutheran Men in Mission, and heads the audio-visual team for our worship service. But Keith’s gifts are greater than the ins and outs of cameras and audio boards. He has always had a love for children and teenagers, so it’s no surprise that he quickly involved the youth of Pilgrim as his tech crew each week. In fact, the audio-visual room has become our church’s youth room. Some of the youth refer to him as their mentor and their mascot. He’s pretty sure that’s a compliment! Keith also has a special bond with our preschool children and staff and is sometimes a substitute dad for a child whose father can’t attend a special event.