David Benke

The Rev. Dr. David H. Benke is the retired President/Bishop of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He represented the eastern half of New York State for the denomination from 1991 to 2015. Ordained into the Holy Ministry in the Missouri Synod in 1972, he has served as Pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, New York, for over four decades and served as President of the Atlantic District from 1997 to present.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Benke is a product of the Lutheran educational system from grade school through graduate school, attending schools in Milwaukee, Fort Wayne, St. Louis, and New York. He received the Doctor of Ministry degree from New York Theological School in 1983. He has received several honorary doctorates, including one from Concordia College, Bronxville, on whose Board of Regents he served for over two decades.

In 2001, following the events of September 11, Benke co-founded the Lutheran Disaster Response of New York, which provided twenty-five million dollars to immigrants and others victimized by the historic terrorist attacks. Lutheran Disaster Response of New York was the agency of choice for the Victims’ Families Association and sponsored the Visitors’ Center (now the Tribute Center, in Lower Manhattan. The theme, “Engaging the World with the Gospel of Hope”, developed on the day of the terrorist attacks, well described Benke’s vision.

During his tenure in Brooklyn, Dr. Benke helped initiate and has continued to promote the Nehemiah Plan, which has led to over 4000 single-family homes being built on formerly ravaged inner-city acreage. Dr. Benke enlisted partners through the decades to provide undergirding interest funding for Nehemiah Homes. He currently serves as the President of the National LCMS Housing Support Corporation. He and others are now fighting for anti-displacement measures and deeply affordable housing alternatives in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in Brooklyn and other New York City neighborhoods, including the construction of 15,000 affordable senior housing apartments.

In 2017 Benke received the “50 over 50 Award” given by City and State New York for being one of the 50 most influential leaders in New York over the age of 50. He continues to serve as Pastor of St. Peter’s, a lively multi-cultural and multi-national congregation.

Benke has served continuously on the Board of Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf since 1992, and currently is the Chair of the Foundation Board. Mill Neck’s mission to serve deaf people locally, nationally, and globally lines up with his vision to engage the world with the Gospel of hope. 

Benke is happily married to Judy, who retired as Vice President for Church and Community Relations at The Lutheran Care Network, New Rochelle, New York. Judy has most recently served on the Board of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and chairs the board of The Center for Urban Education Ministry. The Benkes live in Oakland Gardens, Queens, where they enjoy driving their retirement sports car on the way to and from New York Mets games.