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Reflections on the May 2012 Meeting of the Southeastern Synod Council

Reflections on the May 2012 Meeting of the Southeastern Synod Council

By Michelle Angalet, Associate in Ministry

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Woodstock, GA

The Southeastern Synod Council met for the second time this year on May 31 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel, just prior to the 2012 Southeastern Synod Assembly.  Our agenda reflected the spirit of this year’s Synod Assembly theme, “What in God’s name are we doing here?” as it was full of discussion and presentations about topics bound together by the common theme of future mission and ministry here in our Synod and throughout our ELCA.  The Rev. Matt Simpkins, Campus Pastor, Lutheran Campus Ministry at Georgia Tech, shared a progress report and the vision for Lutheran Campus Ministry in the metro-Atlanta area.  Currently Lutheran Campus Ministry has a growing presence at the Georgia Tech, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia State University campuses.  In March, Grace House, the “home” of Lutheran campus ministry at Georgia Tech, became Grace (coffee) House as free coffee and homemade baked goods were offered during high traffic times Monday-Friday.  This, and the growing campus ministry presence, has resulted in a healthy problem – space.  Drawings for the addition of a 1,000 square foot outdoor deck which can be used year-round have been completed and funding is almost complete. To find out more about the great ministry being done in this place and how you can provide support, visit www.gracepeople.org. 

Diaconal Minister Rebecca Kolowe, Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop, and the Rev. Darrel Peterson, Assistant to the Bishop, facilitated a discussion of the ELCA Macedonia Project.  The Southeastern Synod has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the ELCA, which will be matched by $5,000 from our Synod, to intentionally develop substantive conversations in our congregations and rostered leader groups about mission and ministry at the local, synodical and churchwide levels.  Leaders and congregations will be hearing more about our Macedonia Project in the coming months.  The funding it provides will make it possible for council members to visit congregations, for rostered leaders to intentionally meet with fellow rostered leaders from around the synod to talk about what it means to be engaged in shared ministry, and for Mission Interpreter training to happen throughout our Southeastern Synod.  Specifically, we’ll be practicing together what it means to be story tellers in our contexts.  Telling the stories of our congregations and the stories of ministry that our ELCA is engaged in around the country and around the world, and helping one another see that our own stories are intimately woven into the fabric of who we are as church, as the body of Jesus Christ in the world, is one of the goals of the Macedonia Project.  Such sharing of stories helps not only to create vision of what we can do together, but also helps us to see how the Holy Spirit calls and equips us as bearers and doers of the Gospel for the sake of the world.  Council members engaged in a spirited discussion of how this can and should play out in our Southeastern Synod.

Along the same lines, the Rev. Mary Frances, Assistant Director for Development of New Congregations in the ELCA, shared with us a snapshot of how the ELCA has shifted its vision and approach to developing new evangelizing congregations.  In response to the number of new mission starts which have failed in the last decade and to the changing church culture in which we find ourselves today, there is a renewed emphasis on partnership between the churchwide office (in this case with the Congregational and Synodical Mission, or CSM, Unit) and the 65 ELCA synods in identifying and nurturing both mission opportunities and rostered leaders who can lead them.  The role of Director for Evangelical Mission (our Synod has two of them) is one way this partnership is lived out.  Other ways are through focused stewardship education, focused effort to increase mission support, and intentional congregational mission planning.  Does this sound like the Macedonia Project all over again?  It just might as the ELCA Macedonia Project is one tool that our churchwide organization is using to facilitate such nurturing in many of our synods.  Other ways in which synods are promoting identification of new ministry opportunities and leaders is through multicultural networks, our ecumenical partner network, intentional conversations with seminaries, and promoting out-of-the-box thinking and visioning around fresh expressions of the church.  One example of this latter idea is what the ELCA calls “New Wine” expressions.  Here, new ministries have formed out of congregations that recently disaffiliated from the ELCA.  Truly we are being encouraged to look around and see what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do in the places where we are, even if this means it looks completely different than it looked before. 

To support missional outreach, the Southeastern Synod currently offers a number of grant and loan opportunities to congregations and individuals. The Great Commission Fund is one such funding opportunity.  This fund is set up on an endowment basis; the current spendable amount is about $130,000.  It awards either grants or loans of up to $3,000 for mission outreach projects to congregations or conferences.  For more information about the Great Commission Fund and other funding sources in our synod, visit http://www.elca-ses.org/Grants-Loans.html.  Please note that the award criteria for these grants and loans is currently under evaluation in the hope of encouraging more applications and may be changed at the September 2012 synod council meeting.  In the meantime, we encourage you to become familiar with what is available as you move forward in reimagining your congregational mission plan.

Dr. Everett Flanigan, Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop, updated the council on the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta (LTCA).  Working closely with the ELCA Congregational and Synodical Mission Unit, LTCA has a new vision and is being retooled to support the ministries our congregations and synodical, national and global expressions are engaged in.  A schedule of programs for 2012-14 was presented which includes, but is not limited to, a Missional Leadership School, seminary level course offerings, and classes for TEEM candidates.  LTCA is also working toward providing many of these offerings in Spanish, Korean and Kiswahili so that our brothers and sisters from other cultures can participate.  A Lecture and Preaching Series for the coming year will include the following:  lecture(s) on criminal justice; a Global African Diaspora Symposium; an African American Spirituals, Spirituality and Healing course; and possibly the Hein-Fry Lecture Series.  The annual Hein-Fry Lectures are sponsored by Luther Seminary and identify key theological issues facing the church. The lectures are designed to stimulate inquiry and discussion at the eight ELCA seminaries and throughout the church.  Additionally, the Council approved the Covenant of Agreement for the LTCA and its operation as a ministry and program of the Southeastern Synod in partnership with the ELCA CSM Unit and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, authorized Bishop Gordy to sign the agreement on behalf of our synod, and appointed Dr. Everett Flanigan as Administrative Dean of LTCA.  This is a half-time appointment funded by the ELCA.  Dr. Flanigan will also continue to serve as a half-time Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in our synod. 

The council also received an update on the Standing on the Promise Campaign by Ms. Libby Bedenbaugh of Lutheridge-Lutherock, Ministries, Inc.  At this time, congregations in the Southeastern Synod are receiving council visits by members of the campaign and are being asked to discern their commitment to it.  A major portion of the proceeds from this campaign will be used to equip Lutheranch as an outdoor ministry site right here in our own synod.  The Synod Council also forwarded to the Synod Assembly a resolution to protect Lutherock by requesting that Mountain Electric Company find an alternate route for its electric transmission line outside of Lutherock and The Lutherock Natural Area. 

In answer to the question, “What in God’s name are we doing here?” the Synod Council can answer that it is intentionally and enthusiastically having ongoing conversation about how it can facilitate and support God’s work that needs to be done in our Southeastern Synod.  But our conversations are incomplete without your input.  Please reach out to a member of the Synod Council and ask questions, provide input, tell us what you think.  Or, gather together with your conference neighbors, your cluster friends, or other congregations that share your ministry goals and talk about ways that you can work together. You can find your conference representative and all the contact information for synod council members under the Synod Info tab on the synod website homepage or use this direct link:  http://www.elca-ses.org/Synod-Council.html. 

Thoughts from Pastor Justin Ask, Good Shepherd, Woodstock, Ga

What in God's name are we doing here? This question doesn't always have abundantly clear answers. Yet as the Body of Christ, as a Church that is larger than any one congregation, we are blessed to come together and ponder this holy question. As we hear of the ongoing stories of God's presence in our lives as individuals, congregations, synod, and ELCA, I am reminded of the faithfulness of our God and the great privilege we have to be a part of God's work in the world. I am challenged by words from Dr Jacobson that the truly awesome blessing of being God's treasured possession should cause us to be mindful that the whole earth is God's. Certainly that will help to guide us as we seek Spirit-filled wisdom to the question before us as we journey together faithfully as a synod into the future. 

Pastor Justin Ask, Good Shepherd, Woodstock, Ga

Thoughts from Bishop Jim Arends, La Crosse Area Synod

It's truly an honor to be with the people of the Southeastern Synod in Assembly. The warm welcome and neverending Southern hospitality bring joy. The questions and conversations about snow, ice fishing, and Scandinavian food are fun. But best are the conversations about the ministry that unites us. Both of our synods are celebrating new congregations, an influx of most talented young pastors, and continually increasing lay leadership. Next weekend my report will tell our Synod Assembly what in God's name we are doing in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I will begin with life-filled stories of what you are doing in God's name in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennesee. Thanks for everything. God's blessings to you all.

Jim Arends, Bishop

La Crosse Area Synod - ELCA

What in God’s name are we doing here?

SOUTHEASTERN SYNOD ASSEMBLY:

“What in God’s name are we doing here?”

There’s nothing like starting a Synod Assembly Plenary Session with one of Pastor David Hood’s humorous original songs set to jazz standards.  “Pastor, Get us out of church; ON TIME!”

As the 25^th annual Assembly of the Southeastern Synod has gathered together in the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, we have been blessed by David’s witty songs, Dr. Diane Jacobson’s insightful exploration of Exodus 19:1-8, and Bishop James Arend’s spirit-filled sermon pushing us to find our “Pentecost voice.”

Combined with the plenary sessions and workshops and mealtime and lobby conversations; we have all been asking ourselves, “What in God’s name are we doing here?” 

I have asked several participants to write reflections and answers to that question and send them to me this afternoon and I will post them here on the blog this evening.  Meanwhile, why don’t you ask yourself that question, “What in God’s name am I doing here?”

Delmer Chilton

  

Home at Epiphany Lutheran Church

Our synod assembly is this week!  Last week , we featured a blog from Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church, Richmond Hill, GA.   This week we have thoughts from members of Epiphany Lutheran Church, Collierville, TN. We are excited that both of these mission congregations will be organizing as official congregations of the ELCA at this year's Southeastern Synod Assembly. We hope you enjoy learning more about them as we prepare to celebrate with them!

The following thoughts are shared by two members of the mission of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Collierville, TN. Collierville is just east of Memphis, TN. The congregation is allowed worship and meeting space in the chapel and academic building of St. George’s Episcopal School.

Marti Laslavic has been a member of Epiphany from the time a small gathering began monthly worship in the home of Pastor-Mission Developer Lynda Ernst.

In the early days of Epiphany, few of us knew each other.  Some were linked by common employment while others were linked by common former churches. Many were strangers. But the bonds formed early because Epiphany offered newcomers a sense of home.  No matter your origins or the newness (or strangeness) of your new surroundings (barbeque pizza, really?) joining in worship on Sunday morning lessens the loss of home and smoothes the edges of the unfamiliar.  Whether we met in the mission pastor’s home or the Collierville Funeral Home, Epiphany offered the comfort of the Lutheran liturgy.  “For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord ” joins you to the common worship experience and to the love of God.

Becoming a part of a mission congregation is a different experience than becoming a member of an established church.  There is no slipping into a pew, joining in worship, and slipping out the door.  The smallness forces one to be congenial and brings the people together as a group of worshippers. 

We in the mission congregation continued to share each others joys, fears, and disappointments... and through all our growth pains, our stepping forth in faith, and the evolution of our church, we continue to be comforted by the familiarity of the worship experience.  Never dull or dry - never rote or insincere, we weekly join together confessing our sins, asking for mercy, and singing our song of praise.  We praise God for bringing us together in a special place called Epiphany. 

Thoughts from Diane Kruse. Diane and her husband Wendell joined Epiphany within the last year.

"But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.” – Luke 8:15.

Several years ago, my family was searching for “good soil” in a house of worship. Because we were experiencing a rough patch in our faith journey, we were looking for a place where the church listened to the word with a good heart as well as a desire to love and serve others.

 
We found an ELCA mission church just east of our home. We visited the chapel where the church worshipped. [For us] hearing the Gospel helps us to see that God should be at the center of our lives. We also remember that Jesus told his disciples to love one another. We love God and we love each other.

In addition to hearing the Gospel, the minister there gave a dynamic sermon showing her faith and conviction. And as I listened to the pastor’s words, I was reminded of Christ’s suffering. I realized in comparison, my problems were very miniscule. After the sermon, we participated in Communion, sharing home baked bread brought by one of the church members. Upon leaving the church, we were greeted warmly by the members. The love we felt sure gave us a feeling of warmth and hospitality! We were invited to visit afterward at coffee fellowship.

The above account took place a year and a half ago and we joined Epiphany about a year ago. Since then, the Epiphany Men’s group has planted a garden on land is being purchased through the help of the ELCA. The vegetables grown are to be shared with the town food bank. Now that is some good soil for growing in more ways than one!

We now feel at home at Epiphany Lutheran Church!

A Grace Odyssey-Spirit of Peace, Richmond Hill, GA

We will be featuring blogs from members of Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church, Richmond Hill, GA, and Epiphany Lutheran Church, Collierville, TN, this week and next. We are excited that both of these mission congregations will be organizing as official congregations of the ELCA at this year's Southeastern Synod Assembly. We hope you enjoy learning more about them as we prepare to celebrate with them!

The life and ministry of Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church has truly been a grace odyssey from the time of its formation in 2001! God stirred within the hearts of people in coastal Georgia the desire for a new ELCA congregation in Richmond Hill. This grassroots effort, led by the Holy Spirit, included the selection of the name “Spirit of Peace” during the fall of 2001. During a time of national anxiety, anger, and alarm, “Spirit of Peace” began to embody for the community our living hope in Christ.

Weekly worship began in February 2002, initially in the sanctuary of the local Episcopal Church, then in the chapel of a funeral home. It was a great location – in the dead center of town! Necessity spurred on creativity as other community facilities and family homes were used for fellowship dinners, Confirmation classes, Bible studies, and Youth gatherings.

Richmond Hill is a highly mobile community and is home for numerous military families [Fort Stewart  and Hunter Army Air Field are 30 minutes away] as well as persons who work in Savannah. For those who are active military, Spirit of Peace has provided spiritual support and encouragement, especially during times of deployment and field training. For life-long Lutherans, Spirit of Peace has been a welcomed new church home. And for the many people who had been church homeless for years, Spirit of Peace has brought the grace of God and the joy of Jesus into their lives in transformational ways.

In 2008 a capital campaign entitled “Raising Spirit Together” launched the congregation toward ambitious goals, including the building of our first church home. Even as the Great Recession impacted our nation, God’s great grace was upon Spirit of Peace. The campaign was a great success, spiritually and financially. The following year, Spirit of Peace received a free gift of four acres of land in a great location – for real! Soon we would adopt a constitution, elect Council members, create a living charter, and secure a construction loan. With gratitude to God, we’ve consistently tithed 10% to mission support for the ELCA.

Now we are home at last - Bishop Gordy properly dedicated our facility to the glory of God on November 13, 2011 – and we will soon officially be what we know in our hearts we already are: a congregation of the Southeastern Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. God’s grace has led us safe thus far; and now we see that God, who helped us build a new church home, is also building among us a new church with new people who are being built together like living stones into a spiritual house!

Thank you for listening to our story – you will see and hear more on June 2^nd in Atlanta at Synod Assembly!

What’s So Good About Sabbaticals Anyway, Especially for Congregations?

By: The Rev Mark Beatty
Southeastern Synod Compensation Guidelines Team Member

Our synod recommends them for all rostered leaders (pastors, associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers under call). Various rostered leaders have taken them. But what’s so good about sabbaticals? Isn’t a sabbatical just extended time off? Don’t rostered leaders already get vacation?
Actually, though a sabbatical involves extended time off, the process and goals of a sabbatical make it so much more than just time away. While vacations are also tremendously important, and many studies support the value of paid time off, sabbaticals are distinctly different.

Besides the extended time of a sabbatical relative to a typical vacation, another difference is that vacation is personal time off, and sabbatical is time apart with a purpose. And here’s where a great benefit to the congregation or agency comes in! That purpose isn’t intended to be solely the rostered person’s individual interests for study or experience during the time of sabbatical, but one that is mutually discerned and also beneficial for the congregation or agency in which the rostered leader serves. So the goal of a good sabbatical benefits both the individual and the community where the individual serves.

For example, several years ago a pastor, whose passion for worship leadership was also matched by her congregation’s focus on both worship and social justice, spent intentional sabbatical time with the Iona Worship Community in Scotland and came back not only refreshed and renewed personally, but through the experience came back to the congregation with new ideas and energy for worship and for social justice in the community. One example that didn’t fly was a request from a pastor to spend an entire sabbatical at the beach with no plan other than a verbal promise to read a book while there. It may have been a great idea for vacation, but sabbaticals are intended to benefit both the person on sabbatical and the community where he/she serves, and not just one or the other.

Another indirect but tremendous benefit of sabbaticals for congregations is that the rostered person is called during sabbatical to have intentional times of rest, of holy Sabbath. How many of us have had a blast on a fun-filled vacation, only to have such a full agenda that by the time we got home (if not before) we realized we needed a vacation from our vacation! A proper sabbatical may involve specific learning, travel, and experiential activities away, but these should be accomplished with the balance of an intentionally reflective pace and intentional rest and renewal along the way. Remember, a big part of sabbatical isn’t how much “stuff” the person can fit in during this time apart, but how well-rested and renewed the person will be upon return to ministry in the community. How beneficial would it be for your congregation to have a rested, renewed, re-charged pastor at the helm? What if you could help pre-empt clergy burn-out in your congregation before it ever happened? These are some of the very goals (and results!) of healthy sabbaticals.

It’s important to acknowledge that sabbaticals also require investment. Congregations and agencies who support sabbaticals are making investments of time and money. There are also benefits here too. One benefit is the commitment of the rostered person to stay in their current call at least one year following the sabbatical. Rostered persons are expected to come back ready for ministry with their congregation or agency, not to “take a break” just prior to seeking another call. It is intended to renew the rostered
person for ministry where they are, and help extend the longevity of calls through this intentional resting, new learning, and re-charging.

Expenses can also be reduced through grants. Some sabbaticals have had solid partial support, and others have actually been fully covered through a grant. It’s not a guarantee, but the possibility is there and various sabbaticals are supported through grants every year!

A fear congregations may have is what will happen in terms of ministry during the rostered person’s time apart. What about the day-to-day ministry needs? How will we do this? One way to handle this is to see it as an opportunity. During a sabbatical, congregations can engage more fully as the Priesthood of All Believers, sharing the ministry and perhaps trying new things that otherwise you may have simply not considered for yourself. It’s a great permission-giving time for various gifts of ministry by laypeople in the congregation or agency due simply to the temporary necessity during sabbatical. It’s also a fairly safe and comfortable way to do this, with the security of knowing that the rostered person will soon return. This can produce a stronger more engaged congregation as well as a re-energized pastor to re-enter ministry together at the end of sabbatical.

These are some of the benefits and opportunities of sabbaticals, not just for rostered persons, but also for the communities they serve. What are your thoughts? Are you someone who has been on sabbatical or are you a member of a congregation or agency that has provided one or more sabbaticals to a rostered person? We would love to hear your stories about what worked, what went well, and also what could make a sabbatical even better both for our rostered leaders and the communities where they serve. Are you thinking about a sabbatical for yourself or for a rostered leader serving in your faith community and have questions? Send us those, as well! You can email me at beattymd@msn.com, email our Compensation Guidelines chair, Pastor Scott Seeke scott@wadintheriver.org, or feel free to leave a comment here. We look forward to hearing from you. 

At Least Two (or More) Sides to Every Story

by the Rev. Dr. Delmer Chilton
Assistant to the Bishop, ELCA Southeastern Synod

I (almost) religiously follow the fortunes of the Atlanta Braves.  Because I work a lot of nights, I often have to check out the game reports by computer when I get home or to my hotel if I’m on the road.  On the website I use there is a line score and then a place to click for the “recap,” the written account of the game.  What I find interesting is that there are always two; the Braves’ recap and the other team’s recap.  It’s great fun to read them both.  They are sometimes written by the same person and still it’s often hard to tell that the two stories are about the same game. “Uggla comes through in the clutch with 8^th inning home run.”  “Smith chokes in the 8^th, giving up late homer,” that sort of thing.  Same game; different story.   

There’s a Facebook picture going the rounds with a Sunday School type illustration of Jesus sitting on a rock and speaking to the crowds.  The caption has him saying something like, “Listen closely now.  I don’t want there to be four versions of this floating around.”  That’s pretty funny if you’ve ever noticed how often the gospel writers tell the same story with differing details and occasionally different points. 

Many of us raised in the era of Sgt. Joe Friday and Dragnet, (“Just the facts ma’am, just the facts”) believe there must be a way to get to the bottom of these stories, to establish the pure unvarnished truth.

Others of us are the products of a growing awareness that facts and truth and a straight story are hard to come by.  A lot of modern people assume that every word out of almost everybody’s mouth is “spin,” i.e. the version of the truth that best suits your own purposes or that best matches up with your predetermined ideas about the nature of reality.

This “post-modern” sense that, as my neighbor put it, “everybody’s selling something Padre; you’re selling Jesus,” makes it very difficult for the church to communicate its message to the world around us.  Especially if we try to do it in terms of ultimate “truth claims.” They think we’re selling and most of them aren’t buying.

In his recent book Cities of God, Baylor University Social Sciences Professor Rodney Stark writes a history of the growth of early Christianity using sociological analysis.  He concludes that there has never been a correlation between “doctrinal appeals to a target population,” (truth claims) and actual church growth.  Instead, what researchers discovered was that conversion happened relationally, “By now dozens of close-up studies of conversion have been conducted.  All of them confirm that social networks are the basic mechanism through which conversion takes place.  To convert someone, you must first become that person’s close and trusted friend.”(p.13)

In other words, like my old preaching professor said, “They don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” That goes for all of us who try to talk about our faith, not just those of us who stand up and talk in pulpits and classroom.  People will begin to trust our version of the truth, our interpretation of the facts, when they begin to trust us, when they learn that we care more about them as people than we do about them as possible “customers” of our “product.” 

There is of course, one very important truth underlying this whole discussion.  As John said in this past Sunday’s lesson, “God is love,” (I John 4:8) everything else we have to say and do in the world flows from those three short words.  God is love, so God created the world.  God is love, so God sent the Son.  God is love, so the Son died on the cross.  God is love, so the Son was brought back to life. God is love, so we are filled with the Spirit.  God is love, so we love one another.  God is love, so we love the “others” all around us.  And, in the midst of all that love, sometimes truth happens. 

Amen and amen.

For All In High Places

Preface:  Bishop Julian Gordy, ELCA-Southeastern Synod

Now that both American political parties have a "presumptive candidate," the debate rhetoric is heating up. If the past is any indication, we are set to hear months of bragging, condemnation and overblown rhetoric that would make Pharaoh blush. It's the one part of the democratic process this self-confessed political junkie can't abide. As something of an antidote to what's coming, let me share with you this article by Pr. Frank Honeycutt from the newsletter of St. John's Lutheran Church in Walhalla, SC.

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FOR ALL IN HIGH PLACES

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions…” 1 Timothy 2:1-2a

In six months it will be time to vote for a president in the United States of America. Have you made up your mind yet? Made a decision between Barack and Mitt? This is about the time we enter into all the name-calling, mud-slinging, military service reviewing rhetoric regurgitated out of the various political camps. Accusation followed by denial. Counter-accusation followed by counter-denial. And on and on, ad nauseam.

I saw a bumper-sticker recently that said, “God Is Not A Republican.” It was followed closely by the phrase, “Or A Democrat.” You will not see campaign literature adorning any Lutheran narthex across this land. Lutheran pastors will not stand in a pulpit and tell you how to vote, parading one candidate as morally superior to another—God’s Anointed One for America. We can all be thankful for this.

Way back in the 16th century, Martin Luther did not counsel Christians to stick their heads in the sand until Jesus returned. Brother Martin would not have been a strict proponent of the separation of church and state; that the two had nothing to do with one another. The “two kingdoms,” as he called them, had everything to do with each other. Christians, however, were clearly warned to make sure they knew which kingdom took priority—from whom we receive our true marching orders.

And so we vote; we work for human rights; we care about homelessness and joblessness, fair wages, immigration reform, and racism. But we dare not confuse our true homeland, the Kingdom of God, for a particular country or certain political platform. I find it interesting that presidential candidates are often referred to with superlatives that should make most people blush, that the Bible reserves only for the divine. Which candidate, we’re asked to decide, will make us feel more secure? Less worried and fearful? More confident about the future?

It doesn’t matter whether you support Obama or Romney or whether you’re on the fence. Our security and our future do not really reside in these men. Our security and future are safe with God alone. Maybe this is an obvious statement, but maybe not if you listen to the campaign ads. Presidential candidates are not gods. As we have seen so many times before, they are fallible, sinful, flawed human beings—just like the rest of us.

You know what would be wonderfully refreshing and would really get my attention as a Christian voter? Confession. Humility. Weakness. An honest admission that no one person, no one party, no one historical era can do it all. Too often the conversation slides dangerously close to bold claims that Christians have historically reserved for God alone.

Long ago, St. Paul mailed a letter of advice to his young colleague, Timothy, serving a congregation in Ephesus. Those church members had splintered into a variety of beliefs, convictions, and factions (as we are still wont to do). Timothy’s assignment was to help the congregation return to the basics. Paul, the veteran missionary, advises this young pastor: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.”

In many ways, this is remarkable advice. For to pray for “kings and all in high positions” meant that prayers were to be offered for the very person who was capable of squashing out the church with his thumb. There was much confusion between royalty and divinity in Paul’s day. The word “Caesar,” for example, literally means “god.” But maybe that is precisely the point. Today we pray for a presidential candidate’s humility and personal confession, so that their perceived power may never be confused with God’s. Then as now, Christians pray for those “in high positions” so that their work might be God-infused, filled with a passion for God’s justice and God’s peace.

So yes, pray for kings and presidential candidates and “all in high places.” But remember: for Christians, there is only one king in the “highest place.”

And his name is neither Mitt nor Barack.

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Frank Honeycutt is pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Walhalla, SC, and is the author of numerous books including Marry a Pregnant Virgin, Sanctified Living and The Truth Shall Make You Odd.

Names and Places

by the Rev. Darrel Peterson
Assistant to the Bishop
Southeastern Synod

In the thirty-second chapter of Genesis, we read the account of how Jacob wrestled with God.  At daybreak the struggle ends.  Jacob is advised by his opponent that from that day, he will be known as Israel, “for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed”.  Jacob then called the place, Peniel, saying, “for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved”.  Israel became the name of God’s nation, with the names of the twelve sons of Israel (Jacob)  becoming the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Bible is full of names and places that are rooted in descriptive meanings.  Reading the scriptures and traveling in the historic Holy land places provide a steady diet of names that resonate with images and stories.  Bethlehem means “house of bread”.  Bethlehem is known as the city of David, King David’s hometown.  Mary Magdalene was from the little town of Magdalene near the Sea of Galilee.  There is John the Baptist and Joseph of Arimathea.

Many of our Lutheran churches in America bear names found in the Holy Scriptures.  There are lots of Bethlehems,  several  Bethanys, a few Gethsemenes, and Mount of Olives. We have a historic church in our Southeastern Synod named Jerusalem.   There are lots of apostle names, St Matthew, St Luke, St Mark and St John, even a few St Thomases.

There are tons of Grace, Faith and Hope churches, not many Loves.  ( I served a church named Holy Love and we heard our share of jokes as to whether we were really something else.)  There are Trinitys and Holy Trinitys.  There are Atonements, Incarnations, Resurrections, Ascensions, Redeemers and Nativitys.  There are Holy Crosses and Good Shepherds , and lots of names including Christ and Lord. 

In our Lutheran Church, we have our share of Scandinavian place names, names like the Swedish Fahlun, and the Norwegian Jevnaker.  The Baptists outnumber us in place names, but we do have Shady Lane Lutheran and Peachtree Road Lutheran.

But it gets better.  There is THE hallowed church name, FIRST!  It may be that First has something to do with our egotistical, fallible nature.  One thing is certain, over the years, it has been a favorite.  Would that there might be a Last Lutheran!

Earlier I mentioned  Peniel, which is a very Biblical place name, meaning “seeing God face to face”.  One of our Eithiopian congregations has chosen that name.  Many would look at that Biblical name as being obscure and strange.  It is a very meaningful Biblical name.

What is in a name?  Our Jewish forebearers  avoided using God’s name directly, out of respect. Western culture avoids the name, Jesus, as a given name.  Other cultures readily use the name of Jesus as a given name. 

Parents choose names for their children, sometimes trendy, sometimes obscure.   Church Mission developers often have the privilege of choosing the name for their congregations.  Names are special.  If and when you have the privilege to provide a name, do it well!    

Lean on Me

by Rachel Alley
Assistant to the Bishop for Youth and Young Adult Ministries

"Lean on Me” was the theme of the Alassippi 2012 Youth Gathering held at the Gulf Shores Christian Retreat Center March 23-25. Our theme verse was “we love, because He first loved us.”  Youth from Alabama and Mississippi were invited to attend.  

We started the weekend swimming in the pool at the retreat center.  The water was a little chilly but refreshing! On Saturday morning, everyone pitched in to fix an awesome breakfast,  then we started our sessions learning how to be Peer Ministers.  Peer Ministry is a method of teaching youth how to be welcoming, inviting, and then how to be good listeners.   In the coming weeks a movie about bullying will be released.   Our goal was to equip peer ministers to counteract bullying by reaching out to those who are bullied.  Why?  Because Jesus loved us, we should love others.

In the afternoon, we slipped out to the beach for a scavenger hunt. Winners of the scavenger hunt received plaques for their youth room.  On Saturday evening we finished up our Peer Ministry sessions.  We closed with singing the song “Lean on Me” and discussing how important is as a Christian to be available to others going through difficult times.  Pastor Marcia Shumate Shultz from Bethel in Biloxi, MS, taught the youth about parts of worship, there was a practice session, and then there was an amazing youth-led worship!  Everyone took part.

We closed the evening dancing, including some line dances and Zumba moves. All weekend, the youth took turns leading blessings and prayers and helping in the kitchen.  Many thanks to all the adults who helped plan the event.  Unfortunately, Sunday came all too soon and we had to clean up, pack up, and head home but not before lots of hugs and “see you next year's” were shared.  

Lean on Me

by Rachel Alley
Assistant to the Bishop for Youth and Young Adult Ministries

"Lean on Me” was the theme of the Alassippi 2012 Youth Gathering held at the Gulf Shores Christian Retreat Center March 23-25. Our theme verse was “we love, because He first loved us.”  Youth from Alabama and Mississippi were invited to attend.  

We started the weekend swimming in the pool at the retreat center.  The water was a little chilly but refreshing! On Saturday morning, everyone pitched in to fix an awesome breakfast,  then we started our sessions learning how to be Peer Ministers.  Peer Ministry is a method of teaching youth how to be welcoming, inviting, and then how to be good listeners.   In the coming weeks a movie about bullying will be released.   Our goal was to equip peer ministers to counteract bullying by reaching out to those who are bullied.  Why?  Because Jesus loved us, we should love others.

 In the afternoon, we slipped out to the beach for a scavenger hunt. Winners of the scavenger hunt received plaques for their youth room.  On Saturday evening we finished up our Peer Ministry sessions.  We closed with singing the song “Lean on Me” and discussing how important is as a Christian to be available to others going through difficult times.  Pastor Marcia Shumate Shultz from Bethel in Biloxi, MS, taught the youth about parts of worship, there was a practice session, and then there was an amazing youth-led worship!  Everyone took part.

We closed the evening dancing, including some line dances and Zumba moves. All weekend, the youth took turns leading blessings and prayers and helping in the kitchen.  Many thanks to all the adults who helped plan the event.  Unfortunately, Sunday came all too soon and we had to clean up, pack up, and head home but not before lots of hugs and “see you next year's” were shared.  

The mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus we celebrate this Triduum is not just another thing we Christians believe. It is the very center of our faith. Everything hinges on it. The stakes are high. Very high. 

“If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain...If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins and those who have died in Christ have perished,” St. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15. That’s about as stark as it gets. 

But, if Jesus is raised, if his death and resurrection offer us abundant life, then we are free to live, free to take a risk and do the things that we believe we should do. If Jesus is raised, this side of death can be a resurrection party because ultimately, we have nothing to fear. 

St. Paul goes on, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” He wrote those words to people who were being ostracized and even asked to die for their faith. What fools they are if this life is all there is.

But. . . But, if Jesus is raised from the dead, if what we believe and teach is true, we are free people. Free to take a risk. Free to do something worthwhile, whatever it costs. Free to live the upside down way Jesus taught us. 

There is no proof of resurrection. Evidence is hard to find. There is no proof, but there is the promise. The promise that life will win out over death, that we - you and I - shall not die, but live. The promise that the risen Lord lives with us. Now.  Here. In  our communities, in the meal we share at Christ’s table, in the ones counted least by the world. The Risen One is with us now, here, in this life. 

There is no proof, but there is the promise, and it is a promise to stake your life on. 

+ H. Julian Gordy
Bishop
ELCA Southeastern Synod

The question of the cross

by the Rev. Dr. Delmer Chilton

Assistant to the Bishop

ELCA Southeastern Synod

The question of the cross is a fairly simple one. 

Many people suffer. Many people suffer innocently, abused by cruel and heedless power.  Many people die.  Many people die innocently, murdered by cruel and heedless power.

Jesus of Nazareth is one of these millions of people who have suffered and died at the hands of cruel and heedless power.  And the question is, “Why does his suffering, his death, his cross, matter more than any of the other millions?”  Put another way, “What difference does one more martyr make?”

It’s not an easy question to answer, is it?  We in the church often glibly talk about Jesus “dying for our sins,” but how often do we stop to think about what that really means, and how it really works, and if it’s true (and I firmly believe it is,) what difference it makes in the way we are called to live our lives this day and every day that follows.

Since the late Middle Ages, one of the standard understandings of the cross goes something like this: God is perfect and is both perfectly merciful and perfectly just.  Human beings are, alas, much less than perfect.  We daily fail to live up to perfect justice and are constantly in need of perfect mercy.

The problem is – God cannot be perfectly just and perfectly merciful at the same time. According to feudal custom and Roman law, “satisfaction” has to be made for justice to be preserved. (Remember how in old movies an offended gentleman would slap someone’s face and say, “I demand satisfaction.”  That’s the idea.)  But, if God punishes us as we deserve, gets divine satisfaction, then we’re all dead and God’s not merciful.  If God doesn’t punish us, then God is not perfectly just. 

So, the theory is, God had to come into the world as a perfect human being so that a perfect sacrifice could be made; so that justice could be satisfied and mercy fulfilled.  Jesus dies on the cross, sins are paid for, we’re all forgiven, let’s all get ready to go to heaven. 

But hold on a minute.  It that really it?  Is that all there is to it?  Or is there more?

Yeah, there’s more, much more.  This model has a neat, logical consistency to it, but neither the real world nor the Bible are really neat nor completely logical.  

The cross of Christ calls us to consider the ways in which Jesus is leading us and calling us to a life as one of God’s “suffering servants.” (see our Hebrew Bible readings for Good Friday; Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

The cross is not so much about some divine mental and emotional calculation that makes it okay for God to forgive us as it is about God in Christ coming into our midst to suffer and die with us to show us that as bad as that is, it is not the final answer in God’s eternal equation.

And because Jesus has not only shown us the way but has also preceded us in both death and new life; we can respond to the call of Christ to take up our own cross and follow, confident not that we will not die, but sure that dying will not be our ultimate end.

The story is told that when Desmond Tutu was a relatively young Anglican minister in South Africa one of his white friends, a Methodist minister, came to him and pleaded with him to stop his activities protesting the South African government’s policy of legal race discrimination.

The friend said, “Desmond, you must stop.”  Tutu replied, “Why?”  His friend said, “Why?  Because if you don’t they will kill you.”  “Ah,” Tutu said, “Well, brother, death is not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian.  I have a resurrection Jesus.”

The message of the cross, the transaction that took place there, has many meanings, too many to list, but at least one of them is this, “death is not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian.” 

Because Jesus led the way, we can confidently go out each day doing what good we can find to do,  knowing that God smiles upon us and Christ goes with us.

Amen and amen. 

  

What’s In Your Bowl?

by Diaconal Minister Rebecca Kolowé

Southeastern Synod Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop

“For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”–Romans 12:4-5

This week I’ve been in Chicago for an all staff meeting with my colleagues from the Congregational and Synodical Mission Unit of the ELCA. One of the questions we were asked during our opening plenary session on Monday night was “What’s in your bowl?” The motivation behind the question was to get us to think critically about who we are and where we come from, and how those factors affect our mission and ministry as we live out the call to be church in the world. Three questions shaped this conversation:

1. Describe your culture as it shaped your life and world view in your early years. What values guided your life?
2. Who were “your people” when you were growing up? How did being a part of your family/group/community shape and form you?
3.  Who were the people on the outside of your group? How did you become aware of them; how did you feel toward them; and what experiences influenced your feelings?

The answers to questions #1 and #2 make up the things that are “in my bowl;” they are key pieces of my identity and helped form my worldview. The answer to question #3 makes up the things that are “outside of my bowl,” or at least were at one time, even if I have now learned to incorporate them into my life and be intentional in my awareness of them.

Many people in Southeastern Synod have asked similar questions of me since I started my position as the new Director for Evangelical Mission almost four weeks ago. “Who are you?” “Where did you come from?” and “What is important to you?” are questions I answer frequently. It is essential for us to know who we are partnering with in ministry. The whole idea behind “one body, many members,” which summarizes the verse above, is that we each have different gifts and experiences that contribute to the proper working of the whole. It is important that we share our stories with one another so that we can better understand each others’ gifts and how we fit into the greater whole of ministry.

I grew up at Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison, Alabama. I am a charter member of that congregation. I was one of the three students in the very first confirmation class that was confirmed at Messiah in 1992. I am proud to say that I was confirmed in a Rubber Workers’ Union Hall, which was where the congregation met before we had a church building. I have very fond memories of those days—worship was held in the big meeting hall, where we sat on metal folding chairs, the makeshift altar was actually a folding table on risers, and the neon union signs on the wall behind us glared at us all through worship. Sunday school happened in that room, too—groups circled their chairs and we did the best we could with the limited space we had because we believed in the mission of Christ in that place.

My answers to all three of the above questions come out of that experience. Messiah helped cultivate a missionary spirit in me and gave me a sense that God was calling me to service. Messiah sent me to National Youth Gathering in Atlanta in 1994, where I served on the Youth Servant Corps and got my first real taste of what it meant to serve. That week collecting in-kind offerings for the poor and serving the other participants who gathered to worship, learn, and have fun gave me my first taste of what it could be like to be in ministry. I have been hooked ever since.

Since those days, Messiah has prayed me through college and supported me on a missionary adventure in Africa. This is the place where I was married, and these are the people who sent us assistance when my husband had an accident and was in the hospital. Messiah is where I learned what it means to be church—who I am, who my people are, and how to be in relationship and ministry with all people, even those who were once outside of my bowl. One body, many members.

I am sharing this story because it has profoundly shaped who I am, and also because I hope that as I get to know your ministry, and as we meet and talk together, that you will also share your stories with me. The goal behind asking and answering questions like these is to move toward becoming “one in Christ”—where we all know and appreciate each others’ stories, similarities and differences, and see them as part of the greater whole of the Body of Christ. Only then can we be in ministry together as Christ intended.

A Sidelined Faith?

by the Rev. Dr. Joy Blaylock
St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Mobile, AL

I had a churchmember hand me an article from Time magazine recently entitled "The Rise of the Nones."  It was basically another article about the "spiritual but not religious" crowd and the person who shared it wrote simply at the bottom, "I'd like your thoughts on this."

Realizing that this person has a child now in their twenties, I could imagine the source and motivation of her inquiry.  And, I'm guessing she will be somewhat surprised to find that I have no defense arguments about the reality of brokenness in institutions, particularly those that are "religious."  I've read many of the books by the "emergent church" authors and find that I agree with most of their indictments.  I think the return to small groups, churches with less organized bureaucracy, and "mission interpretation" efforts is a no-brainer for faith communities. 

After all, my first call as a pastor is to a congregation that has gone through some tumultuous times; and, it was tempting to leave on many occasions.  But, I kept coming back to a people that I loved, who challenged me and honored me with their trust and their hurts. And, I believed in those hard times that we all needed to support each other in our journey beyond the pain and systemic failures.

That, for me, is the essence of why we gather:  to support one another, struggle with one another, and to be addressed individually and collectively by the Word of God.  The Bible was never meant to be a personal devotion book, but a sacred text that is interpreted in and with the community. And, in engaging this text week after week, we grow together, are convicted together, and reach out to hold one another up during the difficult times.

Like the "spiritual but not religious" protestors, I confess that I could easily, given my introverted proclivity, take off to Walden Pond and find God in nature.  But, I am called and challenged to live in community and to partake in the brokenness and redemption of that particular group of people.  And, most days I treasure that reality, I need that reality.  It is a constant call away from navel gazing to become other-oriented in word and deed. It is a reality check that I cannot muster by clicking "Like" on Facebook or sharing sound-bite updates.

However, I will admit to sharing in some frustration with people who use the “spiritual but not religious” as code for “I find religion boring and irrelevant, or a stumbling-block to my pursuit of self-interest.” There have been many good articles in the last year that decry this basic attitude.  Without delving into a review of these responses, I think it is fair to assume that most of us engaged in the religious enterprise feel some call to defend it, to justify our weekly pursuits and actions, to at least wrestle with the indictments of the surrounding culture.

Therefore, as a professor of theology, one who has made a career out of the life of the mind, and whose cultural, political, social, and theological leanings are all oriented around the ideals of selflessness and generosity, I can decry such an individualistic approach to spirituality that seems immature in many respects.  Yet, if I am honest, it is the “spiritual but not religious” crowd who are my bread and butter as a professor; the reality of brokenness and disappointment with religion is the very thing that drives many people into my classes. For better or worse, it is often the conventionally religious students who seem smugly satisfied with shallow understandings of their faith traditions. Meanwhile, some of the "spiritual students" are those who work the hardest to figure out what they can believe in while still maintaining a sense of personal integrity and ethical behavior.

Thus, if I step back and think more carefully, as a pastor and professor, I see that it’s not entirely fair to stereotype these folks as self-centered or too selfish for big-box religion.  Likewise, it is not fair to characterize all self-identified religious people as somehow brave, mystical humanitarians. That leaves me with no clear answers to the shifting tides of a post-modern world.  Likewise, I have no sound rebuttal to Bishop Will Willimon's recent prediction that "mainline [denominations] will be sidelined."

Willimon's prediction sounds like the familiar warning of one of my seminary professors: "the era of the big box church is coming to an end."  That may indeed be the case, and if so, I'm fine with that.  I became a pastor to meet people in their vulnerability and brokenness and I can do that anywhere.  The essence of my ministry comes in delighting in God and the liberation proclaimed in Psalm 40:2 "He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure."

I do believe heartily, however, that something happens when "two or three are gathered in Christ's name."  I still believe, perhaps naively, in all the promises made in God's Word to all those who love God and dare to follow the simple injunction: Thy Will be done.  Thus, I will continue to invite those who are disgusted or disenfranchised to dialogue and maybe even to membership in our community if they desire. 

No, we don't have a fancy cappuccino bar, no projectors or electrical instruments, really no flash at all.  But, we do have an earnest group of people who come together to love God and love their neighbor.  We have many who will meet you in the miry bog and stay with you until you are ready to come out.  And, we worship a God who is much bigger than any bog, box, cathedral, basilica, or organization.  In that I take comfort and find my steps to be secure.  The rest, perhaps, is adiaphora, things that don’t really matter: only time will tell.

How Much is Enough?

submitted by

The Rev Robert H Loshuertos

Retired

Madison, AL

A few weeks ago Pastor Delmer Chilton’s blog entry was a wonderful profile of a good stewardship “how to” book. I recommend that to your reading, not that I have read it, but because I respect Delmer’s recommendations. But let me tell you about another new “how to” stewardship book.

For about 7 years I served the Southeastern Synod and the ELCA in the area of stewardship. During those years I found that what I had learned in many years of ministry was true; unless the leadership, especially the pastoral leadership, catches the spirit of Christian stewardship in a personal way the program, whatever it is, will have trouble. I could tell you a number of “horror” stories about that happening in congregations I served.

At our 2007 Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA established a Blue Ribbon Committee on Mission Funding. This was in response to the declining support of the mission of our ELCA. Part of the many wonderful things that committee recommended was to look at the forming of stewardship leaders through theological education and the first call process. This task was turned over to the Stewardship of Life Institute which is at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and supports stewardship education in all of the seminaries. One of the outcomes of that was the development of a document called “Competencies in a Well-formed Stewardship Leader. “ This document was developed and influenced by some of the great teachers of stewardship in our church.

The competencies developed are:

1) Trust’s God’s abundance,

2) Grounds oneself in biblical and theological principles,

3) Holds a holistic perspective,

4) Perceives connectedness,

5) Engages and critiques culture, and

6) Embraces financial heath as an expression of faith.

These are what are needed for good Christian stewardship in our church and congregations. These six competences are the six chapters in a booklet produced by the LTSS/Region 9 Council for Stewardship Education. The authors are from all over the country and with various backgrounds. All, however, are leaders in the practice of Christian stewardship. The booklet is called How Much is Enough: A Deeper Look at Stewardship in an Age of Abundance. It recommended by me the whole Stewardship Council. It is excellent not only for personal reading and study, but would also be excellent for study by the Church Council, Stewardship Committee and/or an adult class. The production of this booklet was partially funded by the Stewardship of Life Institute and therefore only costs $10. Copies may be secured from the Region 9, 4201 N. Main St. Columbia, SC. 29203. Phone: (803) 361-1430

Yearning to be more

by the Rev. Laurie Williams

St. James, Brunswick, GA

Dear friends,

Oprah Winfrey interviewed Viola Davis after her Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the maid Aibileen Clark in The Help. It was a poignant conversation between two women who have achieved success beyond anything they could have imagined as children, when personal and professional opportunities were severely limited for African Americans.

They talked frankly about the expectation that they would become maids, just as their mothers and grandmothers had been domestic servants. Oprah said one line in the film took her breath away, when Aibileen was asked, "Did you ever think of being anything else?" Viola answered that she had tried to convey in that moment the extreme internal conflict which the question called forth in her, both personally and in the role -- the yearning and ambition to be "more"than a maid, knowing that she was in truth a wise and capable woman, but also knowing that Aibileen and Viola's real life foremothers rarely dared to dream of a different, a better life.

Then Oprah asked Viola how she dealt with the pain, the frustration, the anger and the self doubt that rises from past generations andher own experience of being judged and "categorized" by her race, rather than her talent. And what Viola said took my breath away: "You let it go. You forgive. Forgiveness is giving up hope of a different past."

When St. Peter asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive, Jesus basically said, "There is no limit. Just keep on forgiving" (Matthew 18:21-22). We pray in the Lord's Prayer,"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us"(Matthew 6:12). How many of us take those words to heart? Or put another way, how many of us would want to be judged based on how we forgive people who have wronged us?

Forgiveness does not come naturally to us. We need theSpirit of God to work forgiveness in us - "to remove our sins [and thoseof our family, friends, neighbors, even enemies] as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

Like the man who said to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24), we need to pray, "Lord, we forgive; help our unforgiveness."

Viola Davis' words have stayed with me, as I reflect on persons and circumstances I have "forgiven," but which linger in my mind - as I "hope for a different past." I pray that God will continue to work forgiveness in me - and in all of us - so that we can walkinto the future unencumbered with the hurts of our past, but only focus on the fullness of life and joy that our Creator has prepared for us.

Lent is a good time to think on such things.

In Christ's life and love,

Pastor Laurie Williams

St. James Lutheran Church