The Rev. Dr. George R. Muenich (Münnich) was born 31 August 1939 in Hammond, Indiana. He was a 1961 graduate of California Institute of Technology. He served in the United States Air Force from 1962-1965 as a lieutenant and as a civilian in Wiesbaden, Germany, from 1966-1967 when he began his studies in the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen. In 1975 he was awarded a Doctor of Theology in Liturgics degree; his dissertation was entitled, Der Hauptgottesdienst der Lutherishen Kirche Amerikas. Certified for ministry by Concordia Seminary-in-Exile in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1975, he was received into the Lutheran Church in America (now ELCA) by colloquy and was ordained into the Holy Ministry at Grace Lutheran Church, Gas City, Indiana, in 1976, where he served for two years. Subsequently, he served as Interim Pastor at Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio. He then served as Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Grandview, Indiana; Trinity Lutheran Church, Rockport, Indiana; and Redeemer Lutheran Church, Jasper, Indiana. In 1990 he accepted a call to Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church (Die Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische Zionskirche), an independent Lutheran congregation in Brooklyn, New York. During his pastorate the congregation transitioned from a congregation with all German services to a congregation that held both English and German services. In 2008 he colloquized into the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. In addition to his pastoral duties, he composed liturgical music; translated hymns and other liturgical materials; and developed a lectionary from both German and English resources. He retired in 2009 and moved to Battle Ground, Washington. In 1978 he married Erika Bieber. He died 14 May 2011.